Because it’s Halloween, NASA has published a new view of the beautiful Witch Head Nebula taken by their Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. Beautiful even when you realize the witch profile that gives this cluster of new stars surrounded by dust its name.
Astronomers say the billowy clouds of the nebula, where baby stars are brewing, are being lit up by massive stars. Dust in the cloud is being hit with starlight, causing it to glow with infrared light, which was picked up by WISE’s detectors. The Witch Head nebula is estimated to be hundreds of light-years away in the Orion constellation, just off the famous hunter’s knee.
