01 Apr 2026
Messier 78 (also M78, NGC 2068) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion, located about 1,600 light-years away. It belongs to the Orion Molecular Cloud. It was discovered in 1780 by Pierre Méchain. It is the brightest part of an extensive dust cloud, other fragments of which are cataloged as NGC 2071, NGC 2067, and NGC 2064. Messier 78 is the brightest reflection nebula in the sky. Its apparent magnitude is 8.3m. It contains about 45 T Tauri variable stars, young stars in the process of forming, and about 17 Herbig-Haro objects.
Source: Wiki
M78
20 credit