Here is my effort for the Witch head nebula. Taken over 7 Nights over the 23 Dec to 31 Dec. The moon was getting brighter and battling the clouds sometimes only gathering 2 hours of data at a time. The HA signal was week but still added something to the LRGB image. I didn't realise how many galaxies are in the background here until I processed the image. I would have liked to gather more time on the image however the moon is getting bigger and this target is getting lower and there are other summer targets I'd like to capture. On reflection I should have used lower exposure times as I think Rigel's halo is a little big and I found it hard to make it smaller without bringing in excessive artifacts.
I thought a widefield of this reflection nebula showing its source of the reflection, Rigel, in the frame was appropriate.
From Wikepedia:
C 2118 (also known as
Witch Head Nebula due to its shape) is an extremely faint
reflection nebula believed to be an ancient supernova remnant or gas cloud illuminated by nearby
supergiant star
Rigel in the constellation of
Orion. The nebula lies in the
Eridanus Constellation,
[1] about 900
light-years from
Earth. The nature of the dust particles, reflecting blue light better than red, is a factor in giving the Witch Head its blue color. Radio observations show substantial carbon monoxide emission throughout parts of IC 2118, an indicator of the presence of molecular clouds and star formation in the nebula. In fact candidates for pre-main sequence stars and some classic
T-Tauri stars have been found deep within the nebula.
[2]The molecular clouds of IC 2118 are probably juxtaposed to the outer boundaries of the vast
Orion-Eridanus bubble, a giant supershell of molecular hydrogen blown by the high mass stars of the
Orion OB1 association. As the supershell expands into the interstellar medium, favorable circumstances for star formation occur. IC 2118 is located in one such area. The wind blown appearance and cometary shape of the bright reflection nebula is highly suggestive of a strong association with the high mass luminous stars of Orion OB1. The fact that the heads of the cometary clouds of IC2118 point northeast towards the association is strong support of that relationship
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