This interesting patch of red emission/reflection nebula in Orion looks very much like a side portrait of Madusa.

Cederblad 51 is a compact reflection nebula within the Lambda Orionis ring (Sharpless 2-264), about 1,300–1,500 light-years away. Bluish patches are dust clouds reflecting light from nearby hot stars.

The nebula has two main lobes divided by a dark dust lane, set against reddish emission from ionized hydrogen. Surrounding it are delicate dust veils and filaments, part of a molecular complex that hosts ongoing star formation.

Magenta tones show regions where dust and ionized gas overlap, and embedded stars signal a young stellar population. What looks like a single blue nebula is actually one bright knot in a larger star-forming ring around Lambda Orionis.

Imaged in RGBHa on a Planewave CDK 24 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile. Taken Moravian C5.

57x600 - Ha , 60x300 - Each RGB

Enjoy,

SWOS Group, Mazlin, Parker, Forman, Magill, Hanson