M78: Reflection Nebula in Orion
March 2013 :
In his guidebook The Messier Objects, author Stephen James O’Meara confides, “Before beginning this book, I had looked at M78 only once.” Yours truly hasn’t fared much better. Prior to writing this column, I had seen M78 on three occasions –first in the late 1970s when I viewed all of the Messier objects with a 3-inch reflector, and more recently during two Messier Marathons.
It’s understandable that M78 should be overlooked by backyard astronomers. Not far away is the much brighter, much more easily found, and much, much more spectacular M42 - the Orion Nebula. This deep-sky masterpiece was spectacular even through the eyepiece of my 3-inch scope. M78, on the other hand, was a faint blob that seemed to sport an off-center nucleus.
At a recent star party, I had the opportunity to look at M78 with a 16-inch Dobonian-mounted reflector. The view was amazing! Two “eyes” (a pair of 10th magnitude stars that illuminate the nebula) peering out of a misty patch of light took on the ominous form of a cosmic ghost! The eerie visual effect was repeated when I made a follow-up observation with my 10-inch scope.
The accompanying finder chart shows the location of M78 relative to Orion’s Belt. At 8th magnitude, it covers an area 6’ by 8’ and is best seen with magnifications of 100x or more. A scan of the immediate area will pick up several other nebulas, including NGC 2071 situated 15’ NNE of M78. M78 was discovered by Pierre Mechain early in 1780. He was the first to see it – why not be the latest?
When to Observe
Photo by Mario Motta M.D.
