Sharpless 2-161 is a broad area of hydrogen alpha emission that lies less than a degree away from the more famous Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635). The bright emission nebula toward the lower right of this image is NGC 7538, also known as Sharpless 2-158. The region of the sky covered in this image lies along the border of the constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus, with NGC 7538 residing on the Cepheus side.
Lying at a distance of about 9,100 light years NGC 7538 is a well-studied star forming region with some unusual features. For more information, the following article may be of interest.
Herschel Sees Budding Stars and a Giant, Strange RingAlso of interest are several dark nebulae listed in the Lynds' Catalogue of Dark Nebulae. At the upper left are two dark patches (LDN 1234 -left, and LDN 1234 - right) that resemble a pair of flying crows to my eyes. The dark blotches somewhat above and to the right of the center are LDN 1229 and LDN 1230. To the upper right of NGC 7538 lies a more diffuse dark nebula, LDN 1225. The faint streak of dark nebulosity near the center of the image is LDN 1232.
This image is an HRGB composite captured over several nights in August-September of 2023. The forest fire smoke is gradually blowing away for the year, though as I type this, a perfectly good imaging night is being wasted by yet another smoke plume. It has been a great relief to get a few smoke-free nights the past few weeks, which allowed me to shoot the RGB data for this image.
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