Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)  ·  Contains:  IC 1795  ·  NGC 896
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IC 1795, Gary Imm
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IC 1795

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IC 1795, Gary Imm
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IC 1795

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Description

This object is a wonderfully complex and beautiful emission nebula located 6,000 light years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

I am not sure why this is called the Fishhead Nebula - it looks like a whole fish to me. Anyway, this object features glowing gas fronts and dark lanes of dust clouds. Scientists believe that this is a star forming region and that a number of young, massive stars are forming in the glowing region at the fish's mouth. The bright nebula spans 70 light years.

My favorite part of the image are the silhouetted dense, dark dust lanes which weave through the bright emission area. It is hard to imagine how the dust in these areas is so dense that it completely blocks bright starlight in the background. Comparing the dust lanes on the left and right side of the image, I wonder if they are similar? They look much different - brownish, detailed with depth on the left, and simply black and silhouetted on the right - but that difference may be due simply to the intense background emission light source on the right side of the image.

I also like how the color transitions from orange (due to dust) on the left to blue (due to OIII emission) on the right, with a subtle transition of a purplish hue in the middle.

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