M78 is a reflection nebula in Orion. It is mostly a dark nebula except where bright stars provide starlight to light it up. New stars are being formed in it as evidenced by the Herbig Haro objects at the lower right. This area can change it's appearance nearly overnight. A few years ago McNeil's Nebula appeared above and left of the HH objects then vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. Here's a link to a photo of that nebula. The double star to its left is obvious in my shot but the nebula is long gone.
http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/mcneil.html
I needed a lot more time but I'm fighting clouds here which closed in and haven't opened since. Thus, my data is severely limited. Still it gives a flavor of the dust in this region. If the clouds ever part and stop dropping snow flurries I'll try again.
14" LX200R, L=3x10' RGB=2x10', STL-11000XM, Paramount ME reproduced at 1.5" of arc per pixel due to band width limits.
Rick