IC 2118: The Witch Head Nebula
			
		
		
			Image Data:  
Digitized Sky Survey; 
Color Composite:
Noel Carboni
		
		
			Double, double toil and trouble; 
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble -- maybe 
Macbeth should have consulted the Witch Head Nebula. 
This 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 glows primarily by light reflected from bright
star Rigel, located just
off the upper right edge of the 
full image.
Fine dust 
in the nebula reflects the light. 
The blue color is caused not only by 
Rigel's blue color but because the 
dust grains reflect 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. 
The nebula lies about 1000 light-years away.