Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)  ·  Contains:  IC 59  ·  IC 63  ·  gamma Cas nebula
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IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae, Randal Healey
IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae
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IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae

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IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae, Randal Healey
IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae
Powered byPixInsight

IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae

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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. (Gamma Cas is not visible in this image with exception of a little blue reflection in the upper left corner.

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 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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  • IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae, Randal Healey
    Original
  • IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae, Randal Healey
    B
  • Final
    IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae, Randal Healey
    C

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IC 59 and IC 63 - Reflection and Emission Nebulae, Randal Healey