NGC 1788

5.8 may

5 ' x 3 '

F. W. Herschel

February 1, 1786

NGC 1788 • 916 • GC LBN 1005 • h 347 • H 5:32

NGC 1788 (also known as bat fog, because its structure is somewhat reminiscent of a bat ) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. He was discovered on February 1, 1786 by the German - British astronomer William Herschel.

NGC 1788 is significantly affected by the massive stars of the Orion region. The winds of these stars gave the fog its shape suggested star formation in it and also brought the hydrogen gas to glow (in the picture the reddish stripe on the left half of the image ).

Most of the stars that are in the fog are obscured by dust. One of the few exceptions is HD 293815th The stars in this region are very young with an average age of one million years.