Last month we had (easily) the longest stretch of good nighttime weather I’ve seen since moving to Colorado. Maybe even since starting in this hobby. And during a new moon period no less! With the weather being back to its usual shenanigans I’m finally getting around to processing some of that data hoard, and first up is about 15hr of NGC 7822! This target is sometimes called “the cosmic question mark” when rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from this, but any Futurama fans out there can tell you this is clearly the “Screaming Skull” nebula.
“NGC 7822 is a young star forming complex in the constellation of Cepheus. The complex encompasses the emission region designated Sharpless 171, and the young cluster of stars named Berkeley 59. The complex is believed to be [approximately 2600-3200 light years away], with the younger components aged no more than a few million years. NGC 7822 also includes one of the hottest stars discovered within 1kpc (3261.5 light years) of the Sun. This system (BD+66 1673) is an eclipsing binary that exhibits a surface temperature of nearly 45,000 K (85,000 F or 45,000 C) and a luminosity about 100,000 times that of the Sun. The star is one of the primary sources illuminating the nebula and shaping the complex's famed pillars of creation-type formations.” (
Wikipedia)
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