Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cepheus (Cep)  ·  Contains:  Iris Nebula  ·  NGC 7023  ·  VdB139
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C4 - The Iris Nebula, Gary Sizer

C4 - The Iris Nebula

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C4 - The Iris Nebula, Gary Sizer

C4 - The Iris Nebula

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Description

The iris blooms briefly.

I started shooting at 3AM for two consecutive mornings, so that I could capture 5 hours on this pretty flower which closes at sunrise. There was a 60% moon for some of the shots, but in the end I think they evened out. The blue center is especially captivating to me.

The Iris Nebula is a reflection nebula resides in the constellation Cepheus and includes plenty of dark interstellar dust. The nebula gets its trademark glowing blue appearance thanks to SAO 19158, the star responsible for lighting it up.

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C4 - The Iris Nebula, Gary Sizer