Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  B168  ·  Cocoon Nebula  ·  HD208362  ·  IC 5146  ·  LBN 424  ·  LDN 1055  ·  Sh2-125  ·  VdB147
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Cocoon Nebula, Evangelos Souglakos
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Cocoon Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Cocoon Nebula, Evangelos Souglakos
Powered byPixInsight

Cocoon Nebula

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Description

Inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of stars. Cataloged as IC 5146, the beautiful nebula is nearly 15 light-years wide, located some 4,000 light years away toward the northern constellation Cygnus. Like other star forming regions, it stands out in red, glowing, hydrogen gas excited by young, hot stars and blue, dust-reflected starlight at the edge of an otherwise invisible molecular cloud. In fact, the bright star near the center of this nebula is likely only a few hundred thousand years old, powering the nebular glow as it clears out a cavity in the molecular cloud’s star forming dust and gas. This color view of the Cocoon Nebula traces remarkably subtle features within and surrounding the dusty stellar nursery.

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Cocoon Nebula, Evangelos Souglakos