The night sky between the constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus is rich with nebulae and star clusters. The nebulae visible in this image include Sharpless 157, NGC 7635 and 7538 and Lynd’s Bright Nebula 537. The star clusters include Markarian 50 and NGC 7510.
Sharpless 157 is the prominent nebula in the center and left portion of the image. It is sometimes referred to as the Lobster Claw Nebula for obvious reasons. The bright spot just to the left (south) of this claw is Lynd’s Bright Nebula (LBN) 537. Also designated at Sh 2 – 157a, it is a ring nebula around the Wolf-Rayet star WR 157.
On the right (north) side of the image below center is NGC 7538 which has been described by Phys.org as a stellar nursery and a star factory. Although this nebula consists of mainly hydrogen gas it also contains a small amount of cosmic dust. Professional astronomers frequently study this area as it is host to ongoing star formation including the largest known protostar.
At the upper right of the image is the well-known and often imaged Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635). This “bubble” is one of three shells of gas surrounding the massive star BD+602522 (the bright star near the center of the bubble). Energetic radiation from this star ionizes the shell causing it to glow. Very close inspection of the upper right corner of the image reveal extremely faint wisps which are remnants of a supernova which exploded thousands of years ago.
Finally at the bottom/center of the image is open star cluster NGC 7510.
Exposure: Ha
III:SII = 240m:100m:100m
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