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The imagery of flowers isn't rare in the sky.
Here's NGC 7023, the Iris Nebula, a stupendous and bright reflection nebula lying in Cepheus, 1,300 ly away.
The bright blue portion is 6 ly across.
Source➡️ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101112.html
Image Credit: Daniel López, IAC
1/
The imagery of flowers isn't rare in the sky.
Here's NGC 7023, the Iris Nebula, a stupendous and bright reflection nebula lying in Cepheus, 1,300 ly away.
The bright blue portion is 6 ly across.
Source➡️ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101112.html
Image Credit: Daniel López, IAC
Comments
Within the Iris, dusty nebular material surrounds SAO 19158 (aka HD 200775), a hot, young magnitude 7 star.
The dominant color is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight.
NGC 7023 actually refers to the open cluster at the west of the nebulous region. The nebula itself is correctly designated LBN 487.
To the right of the nebula is VDB 141, The Ghost Nebula, considered a globule (cataloged CB230) that is over 2 ly across.