This blue reflection nebula, illuminated by the magnitude 8.8 star HD 17443, is located 930 light years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia at a declination of +68 degrees. It spans 5 arc-minutes in our apparent view. This corresponds to a diameter of 1.5 light years.
I find this object to be the most interesting of all of the vdB reflection nebulae. The severely asymmetric nature of this reflection nebula is unusual and intriguing, as is the texture of the nebula and the local intensity of the blue color.
Over the next month, I will be wrapping up work on the 3rd edition of my
Deep Sky Compendium as well as taking some vacation, so my presence here on Astrobin will be diminished a bit.
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