Photo: Witch Head Nebula

Brightly illuminated by Rigel the star in the constellation ORION the Hunter, the Witch Head Nebula (IC 2118) was NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (link to larger image) for October 30th - right before Halloween! This stellar nebula should probably be better known as Witch Face Nebula. To the right of Rigel in the image below, you may see a face in the bright blue region and/or the star-studded background (distinct nose and chin) facing left towards the blue area. With the blue face, you could say that her hat is the much-fainter conical structure. Regardless of the interpretation, this is arguably one of the most interesting images of a nebula!

Small and original image © Jeff Signorelli