File:M78 (42903082152).jpg

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This colorful image features a small part of M78, a reflection nebula located in the constellation Orion. A reflection nebula is created when light from a star is scattered or reflected off a nearby dust cloud. M78 is located approximately 1,600 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.

M78 was discovered in 1780 by Charles Messier’s colleague Pierre Méchain. It is best seen in January. M78 can be found in binoculars and small telescopes, but telescopes 8 inches or larger will reveal more detail in the nebula. M78 has the distinction of appearing very comet like, with one side of the nebula flaring away like a comet’s tail. This has fooled many comet hunters into believing they have made a new discovery.

This infrared view was made using Hubble’s Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) and Wide Field Camera 3. The Hubble observations were taken to develop a better understanding of protostellar evolution, the early developmental stages in a star’s life.

Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Muzerolle (Space Telescope Science Institute), and S. Megeath (University of Toledo)
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Source M78
Author NASA Hubble Space Telescope

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This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by NASA Hubble at https://flickr.com/photos/144614754@N02/42903082152 (archive). It was reviewed on 13 July 2018 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

13 July 2018

Public domain This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
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current15:29, 13 July 2018Thumbnail for version as of 15:29, 13 July 2018903 × 1,101 (350 KB)Hiàn (alt) (talk | contribs)Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons

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