The cosmic bat — NGC 1788

The delicate nebula NGC 1788, located in a dark and often neglected corner of the Orion constellation, is revealed in this finely nuanced image. Although this ghostly cloud is rather isolated from Orion’s bright stars, their powerful winds and light have a strong impact on the nebula, forging its shape and making it a home to a multitude of infant suns.

This image has been obtained using the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. It combines images taken through blue, green and red filters, as well as a special filter designed to let through the light of glowing hydrogen. The field is about 30 arcminutes across; North is up, and East to the left.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso1009a
Type:Observation
Release date:3 March 2010, 12:00
Related releases:eso1009
Size:6670 x 5018 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 1788
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Reflection
Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster
Distance:3000 light years
Constellation:Orion
Category:Nebulae

Image Formats

Large JPEG
7.5 MB
Screensize JPEG
140.3 KB

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Coordinates

Position (RA):5 6 54.03
Position (Dec):-3° 20' 31.48"
Field of view:26.44 x 19.89 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.0° right of vertical