This small blue reflection nebula is located 1020 light years away in the constellation of Perseus at a declination of +38 degrees. It spans 4 arc-minutes in our apparent view. This corresponds to a width of 1.3 light years.
The significant amount of IFN seen throughout the image, especially below vdB 18, in my opinion dilutes a bit the impact of the normally dramatic view of a vdB nebula.
Sidney van den Bergh published his vdB catalog of reflection nebulae in 1966. It was later expanded by one for a total of 159. The collection encompassed all reflection nebulosity visible on the Palomar Sky Survey north of -33 degrees latitude. My Astrobin vdB Collection, which is about 80% complete, is
here.
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