Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cepheus (Cep)  ·  Contains:  NGC 7538  ·  Sh2-158
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NGC 7538, Gary Imm
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NGC 7538

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NGC 7538, Gary Imm
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NGC 7538

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Description

This object is a small emission nebula located 9000 light years away in the constellation of Cepheus at a declination of +62 degrees. It is about 9 arc-minutes wide, which corresponds to a width of 25 light-years.

The central portion of the nebula, shown in blue in my narrowband image, appears to be a cavity in the surrounding dust cloud which has been cleared out by the small star cluster within.

The most interesting part of this nebula is the small cloud pillar (NGC 7538S) which is seen extending down from the central nebula region. In my image, it appears as a dull orange protrusion. Stephen James O'Meara reports that infrared studies have revealed this to be a very young, massive protostar. It is unusual in that it has not yet heated up the surrounding cloud, so scientists estimate that it could be as young as only 2000 years old.

This nebula has two less-than-inspiring nicknames - the Brain Nebula and the Northern Lagoon Nebula.

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