McNeil's Nebula in Messier 78

In these images we compare a colour picture of the Messier 78 region taken in 2006 with the 4-metre Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona (below) with a new image that was captured using the Wide Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory, Chile (above). The bright, but highly variable, fan-shaped structure, a feature first spotted by amateur astronomer Jay McNeil in early 2004, is almost completely invisible in the older image but very prominent in the new picture.

Credit:

ESO/T. A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF and Igor Chekalin

About the Image

Id:eso1105d
Type:Observation
Release date:16 February 2011, 12:00
Related releases:eso1105
Size:619 x 712 px

About the Object

Name:Messier 78
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Appearance : Reflection
Distance:1400 light years
Category:Nebulae

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