This object is a faint nebula, called a cometary globule, located in the constellation of Lacerta at a declination of +38 degrees. Like most faint nebula, we do not have a good distance estimate for it. This magnitude 16 nebula has a surface brightness of only 23. It is 30 arc-minutes long. This object is the 438th entry in the Lynds Catalogue of Bright Nebulae.

Many of you will see the resemblance between this object and CG4, a slightly larger, more dramatic cometary globule in the southern hemisphere.

There are 2 fascinating aspects of this object - its odd shape and its reddish color.

The shape of the nebula reminds me of a hand reaching up to the sky. What is causing the unique 4 lobed shape at the top of the nebula? Sometimes there are bright nearby stars or star clusters whose stellar winds are shaping and eroding nebulae such as this one, but I don’t see bright stars above this object and I haven't seen any research which identifies the driving source.

The red glowing color is beautiful and a bit eerie. The nebula emits no real HII signal, so what is causing it? Almost every internet source says, with very similar wording, that this is an ERE (Extended Red Emission) object. ERE is a broad emission in the red band, peaking from 600 to 800 nm, detected in some interstellar objects such as planetary nebulae, reflection nebulae, and HII regions at high latitudes. It is thought to be the result of photoluminescence of dust by far-ultraviolet (FUV) photons, although its exact mechanism is still being debated in the scientific community. It is probably present in every interstellar dust object, but it is hard to detect because it is faint and is usually overwhelmed by brighter illumination sources such as reflected light and emission. 

Many distant galaxies are seen in the background.  The distant galaxy slightly above and right of the nebula is UGC 12137, a magnitude 13.5 spiral galaxy. It is 220 million light years away and about the same size as our galaxy, at 120,000 light years in diameter. It looks a bit disturbed, perhaps by a small potential companion that appears below and left of this galaxy.

At bottom left is the unique arch-shaped nebula that is LBN 440.