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Rolf's Astrophotography
  • An Astrophotography Journey!
  • Clusters
    • Globular Clusters
      • M13 – Hercules Cluster
    • Open Clusters
      • M45 – The Pleiades
  • Galaxies
    • Elliptical Galaxies
      • Markarian’s Chain with M84, M86, and M87
    • Irregular Galaxies
    • Spiral Galaxies
      • M31 – Andromeda Galaxy
      • M33 – Triangulum Galaxy
      • M51 – Whirlpool Galaxy
      • M64 – Black Eye Galaxy
      • M81 – Bodes Galaxy
      • NGC 4565 (C38) – Needle Galaxy
  • Nebulas
    • Dark Nebulas
      • IC 434 – Horsehead Nebula
    • Emission Nebulas
      • IC 1805 – Heart Nebula
      • IC 1848 – Soul Nebula
      • IC 405 – Flaming Star Nebula
      • M42 – Orion Nebula
      • NGC 2237 – Rosette Nebula
      • NGC 6888 – Crescent Nebula
      • NGC 7000 – North America Nebula
      • Sadr and the Gamma Cygni Nebula (IC 1318)
    • Planetary Nebulas
      • M27 – Dumbbell Nebula
      • M57 – Ring Nebula
    • Reflection Nebulas
      • M78
      • NGC 7023 – Iris Nebula
    • Supernova Remnants
      • M1 – Crab Nebula
  • Solar System
    • Comets
    • The Moon
    • Jupiter
    • Mars
    • Saturn
  • The Gear
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    • APO94 Configuration Example
    • MN190 Configuration Example
    • RC8″ Configuration Example
Rolf's Astrophotography

Reflection Nebulas

Reflection nebulas are clouds of interstellar dust which might reflect the light of a nearby star or stars. The energy from the nearby stars is insufficient to ionize the gas of the nebula to create an emission nebula, but is enough to give sufficient scattering to make the dust visible. Thus, the frequency spectrum shown by reflection nebulae is similar to that of the illuminating stars. Among the microscopic particles responsible for the scattering are carbon compounds (e. g. diamond dust) and compounds of other elements such as iron and nickel. The latter two are often aligned with the galactic magnetic field and cause the scattered light to be slightly polarized.

M78

M78

NGC 7023, Iris nebula

NGC 7023, Iris Nebula

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