IC 2118 is a large reflection nebula located in Eridanus, about 2.5 degrees west of Rigel, Orion's brightest star. It consists of interstellar dust particles which scatter or "reflect" the light of Rigel, a process which is most efficient at shorter wavelengths, therefore the nebula appears blue on photographs.

If you turn the photograph upside down and interpret the long nebula strip pointing left as "nose" and the dark indention on the left side as "open mouth", the nebula indeed looks like a gnarled and distorted face seen in profile, hence its name.

IC 2118 was discovered photographically by Max Wolf in 1909.