Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cepheus (Cep)  ·  Contains:  B175  ·  PK111+11.1  ·  VdB152
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vdB 152, Gary Imm
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vdB 152

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
vdB 152, Gary Imm
Powered byPixInsight

vdB 152

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Description

This object, a combination of a dark nebula and a reflection nebula, is located about 1,400 light years away in the constellation of Cepheus. It has the nickname of Wolf's Cave. Although the nickname suggests that this sky object resembles a wolf's cave, this object is actually named after Max Wolf, the astronomer who announced its discovery in 1908. This spans about 4 light-years

The large dark nebula stretching through the frame is Barnard 175. The opaque dust blocks most of the starlight behind it, but blue light from a young star is scattered and reflected off some of the particles to illuminate the reflection part of the nebula which is vdB 152. Though stars do form in molecular clouds, this star seems to have only accidentally wandered into the area, as its measured velocity through space is very different from the cloud's velocity.

My favorite part of this image are the interesting arcs of blue light, seen only in the full resolution view, which surround the bright blue star in vdB 152.

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