Image taken with my light equipment (camera on a small equatorial mount).
This is an image with a field of 15°x10° in the constellation Cepheus.
We see the nebula IC 1396 (red nebula on the left) about 2500 light-years away, whose apparent diameter is 5 times that of the full moon. The brightest star in the center of the nebula is a massive star that emits strong ultraviolet radiation that ionizes the gas in the entire nebula.
IC 1396 contains the Elephant Trunk Nebula (down from IC 1396). It is a target often imaged by astrophotographers.
The garnet star at the edge of the nebula is a star to observe with a telescope because of its characteristic orange color.
In the center of the image, we can see Alderamin, the main star of Cepheus.
On the right, in small, is the Iris Nebula (white-blue), noted NGC 7023. We also see some dark clouds of dust (which hide the stars behind), especially around the Iris.
Below, we see the nebula Sh2-129. This features another famous nebula, which cannot be seen in my image: the Giant Squid Nebula, which looks like a planetary nebula but the nature of this object is undetermined. It is also called OU4, from the name of its discoverer (Nicolas Outters). Some images and details of the discovery 10 years ago are here:
http://outters.fr/wp/?page_id=1701
Comments