This image captures a number of reflection, dark, and planetary nebulae located in the constellation of Serpens at a declination of +1 degree.

Just above image center, and identified in the mouseover, is the blue reflection nebula vdB 123.  The nebula is located about 1000 light years away in the constellation of Serpens.  It is 4 arc-minutes long in our apparent view, which corresponds to length of about 1 light year.  It is illuminated by HD 170634, a magnitude 9.8 blue star.

The orange nebula to the right of vdB 123 is the Serpens Reflection Nebula.  Orange reflection nebula are unusual.

The highlight of the image for me is the dark nebula to the right of vdB 123, which is simply called the Serpens Dark Cloud.  It is odd to me that this dark nebula was not identified in the Barnard Dark Nebula Catalogue.

At the center of the right edge of the image is the colorful planetary nebula Sh2-68.  It is a faint PN located 1300 light years away.  This magnitude 16.5 nebula spans 10 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of 4 light years.  The strange shape of this nebula reflects the fact that the white dwarf progenitor star is moving rapidly through space and the nebula is experiencing interaction with the ISM (interstellar medium).  It is nicknamed the Flaming Skull Nebula – turning your head to the left, you can see a blue skull, facing and moving left, with a head of flaming hair as it streaks across our galaxy.  The progenitor star energizing the gases is likely the small blue star at the center of the bluish gas.   I am surprised that this PN showed up in the RGB subs - even in narrowband, it is a faint object.

Many other reflection and dark nebula are seen throughout the image. This area contains many Herbig-Haro objects but they are hard to see through the dust and are only readily visible in an infrared image.

The dust in this region reddens the distant background stars.