Witch Head Nebula

IC 2118 · Reflection nebula in Eridanus

Magnitude: 13.0
Size: 180′ × 60′
Effective surface brightness: 24.0 mag/arcsec²
Best months: Nov, Dec, Jan
Declination: -7°
Filter: None (broadband target)

A very faint blue reflection nebula lit by Rigel. A dark-sky, all-night, broadband project; it is one of the hardest objects on this list.

Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.

How long with each smart telescope

Total integration for a solid image of the Witch Head Nebula, default sub length, recommended filter, and how much of each frame it fills. Click a cell for the full Bortle 1 to 9 table.
Telescope	In frame	Bortle 3 (rural)	Bortle 5 (suburban)	Bortle 7 (urban edge)
ZWO Seestar S5010 s subs	4.2× frame	14 h4,973 subs	25 h8,828 subs	71 h25,679 subs
ZWO Seestar S50 Pro10 s subs	2.2× frame	15 h5,570 subs	27 h9,740 subs	78 h27,966 subs
ZWO Seestar S3010 s subs	2.5× frame	16 h5,768 subs	27 h9,623 subs	74 h26,474 subs
ZWO Seestar S30 Pro10 s subs	1.3× frame	17 h5,998 subs	29 h10,384 subs	82 h29,557 subs
DwarfLab DWARF 315 s subs	1.8× frame	17 h4,153 subs	34 h8,123 subs	110+ h25,476 subs
DwarfLab DWARF mini15 s subs	2.5× frame	14 h3,267 subs	24 h5,837 subs	71 h17,071 subs
DwarfLab Draco30 s subs	2.4× frame	11 h1,315 subs	20 h2,386 subs	59 h7,068 subs
DwarfLab DWARF II15 s subs	1.7× frame	67 h15,973 subs	96 h23,112 subs	230+ h54,317 subs
Vaonis Vespera II10 s subs	2.1× frame	14 h4,973 subs	25 h8,828 subs	71 h25,679 subs
Vaonis Vespera Pro10 s subs	1.9× frame	35 h12,605 subs	58 h20,711 subs	160+ h56,139 subs
Vaonis Vespera 310 s subs	2.0× frame	13 h4,694 subs	23 h8,396 subs	68 h24,580 subs
Vaonis Vespera Pro 210 s subs	1.8× frame	33 h11,851 subs	55 h19,635 subs	150+ h53,661 subs
Unistellar eQuinox 24 s subs	5.3× frame	21 h18,930 subs	28 h24,937 subs	57 h51,194 subs
Unistellar Odyssey4 s subs	5.3× frame	120+ h104,141 subs	140+ h125,997 subs	250+ h221,527 subs
Celestron Origin10 s subs	3.5× frame	3 h 05 min1,110 subs	6 h 07 min2,204 subs	19 h6,984 subs
Celestron Origin Mark II10 s subs	4.0× frame	3 h 39 min1,315 subs	8 h 02 min2,890 subs	27 h9,774 subs

Open in the calculator

Imaging the reflection nebula

Reflection nebulae are starlight scattered by dust, so they are broadband and blue. A dual-band filter removes almost all of it; do not use one. These are among the faintest structures a smart scope can attempt and the figures run long. A dark sky matters more here than for any other type, and the Moon must be down.

Witch Head Nebula

How long with each smart telescope

Imaging the reflection nebula

Per-telescope pages