This object, also known as vdB 139, is a beautiful blue reflection nebula located 1400 light years away in the constellation of Cepheus at a declination of +68 degrees. A bright 7th magnitude star (HD 200775) illuminates the core of the nebula. The pretty blue petals of the Iris Nebula span about six light-years.
This LRGB image shows that the dominant color of the brighter reflection nebula is blue, as is true for most reflection nebulae, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight. But many other color shades are also apparent. The subtle color variations in the nebula include purple, orange, brown, black, and white.
I find interesting the nature of the "windows" that seem to be carved through different parts of the cloud, especially towards the right where the background sky can be fully seen. I don't understand why there are such distinct boundaries - I do not see such behavior in earthly clouds. Perhaps these windows are partially due to local stellar jets clearing out areas of dust.
I like the bright white "arcs" at the center of the nebula, generally running almost horizontally. I imagine that these are cloud fronts illuminated by bright star light.
In addition to the main attraction seen at center, there are at least 3 interesting white reflection nebula seen in the image as well. The white reflection nebula just below and left of the nebula is the young stellar object [KWD2009] 57. The white reflection nebula at the left center edge is
vdB 141, and the white reflection nebula at the right center edge is
HH 215 (Gyulbudaghian's Nebula). HH215 has had a big flareup at 1 o'clock since I imaged it 3-1/2 years ago.
Comments