Posted on 11/01/2012 5:33:22 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble -- maybe Macbeth should have consulted the Witch Head Nebula. The suggestively shaped reflection nebula is associated with the bright star Rigel in the constellation Orion. More formally known as IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula spans about 50 light-years and is composed of interstellar dust grains reflecting Rigel's starlight. In this cosmic portrait, the blue color of the Witch Head Nebula and of the dust surrounding Rigel is caused not only by Rigel's intense blue starlight but because the dust grains scatter blue light more efficiently than red. The same physical process causes Earth's daytime sky to appear blue, although the scatterers in Earth's atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. Rigel, the Witch Head Nebula, and gas and dust that surrounds them lie about 800 light-years away.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)]
[singing] Witch Head woman, she got the Moon in her eyes...
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Rigel always reminds me of Farscape.
Looks like a croc to me!
Beautiful purple.
Thanks very much, Sunken Civ!
Beautiful...thank you.
If you look real close.....about a third of the way up the nebula.....on the left....that’s me in my space cruiser. I put new rims on her this summer. They really shine.
I miss Farscape
I think you can get Farscape on Amazon.
Hubby and I have a copy. That and Firefly.
The TV-Serial producers keep killing the shows I like the best.
They’ve cancelled House and Sanctuary, the bastids.
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