September 24, 2023

NGC 7380 - Wizard Nebula

This is NGC 7380, also known as the Wizard Nebula. It is located in Cepheus and is about 8500 lightyears from our solar system. It was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. It is an open cluster of stars with DH Cephei, a binary system, at the center of the cluster. These two massive O-type stars ionize the surrounding hydrogen alpha.

The nebula is presented using a false color HOO palette. The stars are broadband RGB. This image is about 20 hours of integrated exposure time.

RA: 22h47m12s.7
DEC: +58°04′37″