About the Witch Head Nebula
the Witch Head Nebula is a rare nebula. It sits in the constellation Eri.
A reflection nebula. It produces no light at all; it is dust catching the glare of a nearby star and scattering it back at us.
Rare nebula 38 EP
the Witch Head Nebula
RA 76.2310° · Dec -7.2656° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Bigger on the sky than the full Moon +12
- Reflection nebula +10
- Nebula +8
- Has a proper name +8
Total score 38
12 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Has a proper name · +8
- Reflection nebula · +10
- Bigger on the sky than the full Moon · +12
Trivia
What it actually is
- What it actually is. A reflection nebula. It produces no light at all; it is dust catching the glare of a nearby star and scattering it back at us.
Find it in the sky
- Where to look. You'll find it in the constellation Eridanus.
- Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
- Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around December — that's when to go looking.
Its true colour
- Its true colour. It looks blue for exactly the reason Earth's sky is blue: fine dust scatters short blue wavelengths far more efficiently than long red ones.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
How we came to know it
- The New General Catalogue. Its NGC number comes from J. L. E. Dreyer's 1888 catalogue, itself built on decades of sky sweeps by William Herschel and his sister Caroline.
Properties
- constellation
- Eri
- dso type
- RfN
- name
- the Witch Head Nebula
- named
- yes
- size arcmin
- 180
How to see it
Look for the Witch Head Nebula in the constellation Eri.
Like any astronomical target, the Witch Head Nebula is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why the Witch Head Nebula is a rare nebula
the Witch Head Nebula scores 38 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Nebula, Has a proper name, Reflection nebula and Bigger on the sky than the full Moon — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.