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reflection nebula

The Witch Head Nebula

This cloud is not making its own light at all — it is a mist lit up by Rigel, a brilliant star just outside it, the way headlights catch fog! Somebody thought it looked like a witch, and the name stuck.

🚀 Travel there
The Witch Head Nebula — Drawn, not photographed.

What it is

Faint reflection nebula lit by the nearby bright star Rigel, resembling a cackling witch's profile.

Reflection nebula: Dust simply reflecting a nearby star, like fog round a lamp. Every kind of thing there is →

Can you see it?

No. No telescope on Earth will show you this one; it is here to be understood, not seen. It is here because it is worth knowing about — and because leaving it out would make the sky look emptier than it is.

Worth knowing about the Witch Head Nebula

On the 100-meter-track scale model of the Milky Way, the Witch Head Nebula would be about 90 centimeters from the Sun. Light takes 900 Earth years to get here from the Witch Head Nebula, so what you are looking at is the Witch Head Nebula as it was 900 Earth years ago.

What it is made of
A wispy cloud of dust that doesn't glow on its own — it reflects and scatters light from the nearby star Rigel, a 'reflection nebula'.
How we know: Its spectrum matches Rigel's spectrum almost exactly, rather than showing the glowing emission lines of a true emission nebula.
What makes it worth knowing
Extremely low surface brightness, essentially invisible even in large amateur telescopes; usually only revealed via long-exposure astrophotography.
The numbers
Distance from us~900 light-years

Next to it

The Milky Wayspiral galaxyNaked eyeProxima CentauristarWith effortAlpha Centauri A & Bbinary star systemNaked eyeSiriusstarNaked eyeVegastarNaked eyeArcturusstarNaked eye
📖 How the Milky Way fits together

Then go outside

Not this one. But the sky over your head is full of ones you can see, and the Planetarium knows which.

🌙 Plan an evening outside🌌 Everything else in the sky