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Credit & Copyright: Gianni Lacroce
Explanation:
The mysterious blue reflection nebula found in catalogs as
VdB 152 or Ced 201 really is very faint.
It lies at the tip of the long
dark nebula Barnard 175 in a
dusty complex that has also been called
Wolf's Cave.
At the center of
this deep telescopic view, the
cosmic apparitions are nearly 1,400
light-years away along the northern Milky Way
in the royal constellation Cepheus.
Interstellar dust in the region
blocks light from
background stars and
scatters light from the embedded bright star,
giving the end nebula its characteristic blue color.
Though stars do form in
molecular clouds, this star
seems to have only accidentally wandered
into the area, as its measured velocity through
space is very different from the cloud's velocity.
At the image bottom is the planetary nebula
Dengel-Hartl 5, while
red glowing gas from an ancient supernova remnant is
also visible along the image's right side.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: reflection nebula - dark nebula
Publications with words: reflection nebula - dark nebula
See also:
- The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
- APOD: 2023 November 27 Á LBN 86: The Eagle Ray Nebula
- APOD: 2023 November 20 Á The Horsehead Nebula
- APOD: 2023 October 30 Á Reflections of the Ghost Nebula
- The Ghosts of Gamma Cas
- APOD: 2023 September 26 Á IC 4592: The Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula
- NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula