Description (wikipedia)Messier 78 or
M78, also known as
NGC 2068, is a
reflection nebula in the
constellationOrion. It was discovered by
Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included by
Charles Messier in his catalog of
comet-like objects that same year.
[4]M78 is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula of a group of nebulae that includes
NGC 2064,
NGC 2067 and
NGC 2071. This group belongs to the
Orion B molecular cloud complex and is about 1,350
light-years distant from Earth.
[2] M78 is easily found in small
telescopes as a hazy patch and involves two stars of 10th and 11th
magnitude. These two
B-type stars,
HD 38563 A and
HD 38563 B, are responsible for making the cloud of dust in M78 visible by reflecting their light.
[5]The M78 cloud contains a cluster of stars that is visible in the
infrared.
[2] Due to gravity, the molecular gas in the nebula has fragmented into a hierarchy of clumps,
[2] whose cores have masses ranging from 0.3
M☉ to 5
M☉.
[6] About 45
variable stars of the
T Tauri type,
[7] young stars still in the process of formation, are members as well. Similarly, 17
Herbig–Haro objects are known in M78.
Personal noteI am quit happy with the end result. Wold have liked to have a bit more color like reds in the picture, but the dominant blue tones are fine as well. BlurXterminator brought out a out of noice details in the nebulosity.
ProcessingChrominance: WBPP with 2xdrizzle, crop, ABE, Linear Fit, RGB combination, Background Neutralisation, ColorCalibration, MaskedStretch, ArcsinthStretch, Starnet2, denoise, curves, HDR-MT
Luminance: WBPP with 2xdrizzle, ABE, Deconvolution. Histogram Transformation, Curves, HDRM MST
Please let me know your feedback and your suggestions on how to improve further. Thank you! 
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