Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  IC 5070  ·  Pelican nebula  ·  The star 56Cyg  ·  The star 57Cyg
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IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula, Hap Griffin
IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula
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IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula, Hap Griffin
IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula

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Description

One of the interesting aspects of astrophotography is that, just like in looking at clouds, one often sees familiar shapes in the nebulae we photograph. Here is a good example that I captured last night...IC 5070 in the constellation Cygnus. It looks for all the world like a Pelican, and in fact the object is informally known as the Pelican Nebula.

IC 5070 lies 2000 light years away in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Dark dust clouds in the nebula define the Pelican's eyes and long bill, while a bright region of glowing hydrogen gas outline the back of his neck. As this region of active star formation evolves over time, a few million years from now it will no doubt no longer resemble its namesake.

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IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula, Hap Griffin