Casper the Friendly Ghost above Barnard's Loop

Barnard’s Loop is a huge arc formed emission nebula in the constellation Orion, expaning over about 600 arcminutes as seen from our point of view, covering much of the constellation. This image just covers a small part of the loop, close to the star Alnitak.

In february 2023, I captured the whole constellation, giving a great overview of the loop and its surroundings (see above).

Above the loop, there’s Messier 78 - the so called Casper the Friendly Ghost nebula. It’s a diffuse reflection nebula roughly 1.350 light years away from us, overlayed by the dark nebula LDN 1627.

A final detail I’d like to point out is the dust pillar at the bottom of the image, featuring a tiny reflection nebula at its top. This dust cloud is way bigger and called the Boogeyman Nebula.