Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)  ·  Contains:  27 gam Cas  ·  IC 59  ·  IC 63  ·  Sh2-185  ·  The star Navi (γCas)  ·  gamma Cas nebula
IC59 & IC63, Sergiy_Vakulenko
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IC59 & IC63

IC59 & IC63, Sergiy_Vakulenko
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IC59 & IC63

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Description

IC 59 and IC 63 are faint reflection and emission nebula located in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. They are challenging objects to spot with telescopes for a number of reasons. Both nebulae are faint at apparent mag. +10, they have extremely low surface brightness and surround bright variable star gamma Cas (γ Cas). This remarkable star is partly unstable and is known as a "shell star". It currently shines at mag. +2.15, making it the brightest star in Cassiopeia.

IC 59 and IC 63 are 610 light-years distant. From our perspective, IC 59 is located on the northern side of gamma Cas and IC 63 to the northeast. Spatially the nebulae are roughly 3 light-years from gamma Cas, although IC 63 is slightly closer to the star. As a result, it's appears mostly red due to a dominance of H-alpha emission, whereas IC 59 exhibits much less H-alpha emission and appears mostly blue due to dust reflected starlight.

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  • IC59 & IC63, Sergiy_Vakulenko
    Original
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    IC59 & IC63, Sergiy_Vakulenko
    C

C

Description: Fixed strong reflection from Gamma Cas.

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IC59 & IC63, Sergiy_Vakulenko

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Sharpless2 Objects
The refractors!