Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  Cocoon Nebula  ·  IC 5146
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IC5146 Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus - Hubble Palette, Phil Swift
IC5146 Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus - Hubble Palette
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IC5146 Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus - Hubble Palette

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
IC5146 Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus - Hubble Palette, Phil Swift
IC5146 Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus - Hubble Palette
Powered byPixInsight

IC5146 Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus - Hubble Palette

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Description

IC5146 the Cocoon Nebula is a reflection/emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus.

It is a cluster of 9.5 mag stars involved in a bright and dark nebula.

The nebula shines at magnitude +10.0

The cluster is about 4,000 y away, and the central star that lights it formed about 100,000 years ago.

The gas cloud spans around 15 ly.

When viewing IC5146, dark nebula Barnard 168 is an inseparable part of the experience, forming a dark lane that surrounds the cluster and projects westward forming the appearance of a trail behind the Cocoon.

This nebula is a stellar nursery where star-formation is ongoing. Young stars are seen in both the emission nebula, where gas has been ionized by massive young stars, and in the dark molecular cloud that forms the "tail".

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IC5146 Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus - Hubble Palette, Phil Swift