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Messier 78
(M78) is a
reflection nebula
in the constellation
Orion
. It was discovered by French astronomer
Pierre Méchain
in 1780 and included by
Charles Messier
in
his catalog of comet-like objects
that same year. M78 is easily found with a small telescope as a hazy patch and features two stars of tenth and eleventh
magnitude
, which illuminate the cloud of dust in the nebula and make it visible. This photograph of the nebula was captured by the Wide Field Imager of the
MPG/ESO telescope
at the
European Southern Observatory
's
La Silla Observatory
in Chile.
Photograph credit: Igor Chekalin
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