Messier 78
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox nebula
Messier 78 or M78, also known as NGC 2068, is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of comet-like objects that same year.<ref name=Frommert2018/>
M78 is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula of a group of nebulae that includes NGC 2064, NGC 2067 and NGC 2071. This group belongs to the Orion B molecular cloud complex and is about Template:Convert distant from Earth.<ref name=Smith2013/> M78 is easily found in small telescopes as a hazy patch and involves two stars of 10th and 11th magnitude. These two B-type stars, Template:Nowrap and Template:Nowrap, are responsible for making the cloud of dust in M78 visible by reflecting their light.<ref name=Strom1974/>
The M78 cloud contains a cluster of stars that is visible in the infrared.<ref name=Smith2013/> Due to gravity, the molecular gas in the nebula has fragmented into a hierarchy of clumps,<ref name=Smith2013/> whose cores have masses ranging from Template:Val to Template:Val.<ref name=Motte2001/> About 45 variable stars of the T Tauri type,<ref name=Herbig1963/> young stars still in the process of formation, are members as well. Similarly, 17 Herbig–Haro objects are known in M78.<ref name=Zhao1999/>
On May 23, 2024, the European Space Agency released an initial set of images from their Euclid mission. This included an unprecedented image of the region including M78.<ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref> It showed hundreds of thousands of new objects including sub-stellar sized ones for the first time.
GalleryEdit
- VISTA views Messier 78.jpg
VISTA image of Messier 78.
- Making a Spectacle of Star Formation in Orion.jpg
Spitzer image of Messier 78.
- Euclid’s new image of star-forming region Messier 78 ESA497237.jpg
Euclid image of star-forming region Messier 78
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Template:WikiSky
- SEDS: Starforming Nebula M78
- Template:APOD
- NightSkyInfo.com – M78
- Astronomy Picture of the Day
- M78 Wide Field 2009 November 26
- M78 and Reflecting Dust Clouds in Orion 2010 March 2
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}
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