The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
This colorful
skyscape spans about three full moons (1.5 degrees)
across nebula rich starfields along the plane of
our Milky Way Galaxy in the royal northern constellation
Cepheus.
Near the edge of the region's massive molecular cloud some 2,400
light-years away, bright reddish emission region
Sharpless
(Sh) 155 lies at the upper left, also known as the
Cave Nebula.
About 10 light-years across the cosmic cave's bright rims of
gas are ionized by ultraviolet light from hot young stars.
Dusty blue reflection nebulae also abound on the interstellar
canvas cut by dense
obscuring
clouds of dust.
The long core of the
Lynds
Dark Nebula (LDN) 1210 anchors the scene at lower right.
Astronomical
explorations
have revealed other dramatic signs of
star formation, including the bright red fleck of
Herbig-Haro (HH) 168.
Directly below the bright Cave Nebula, the Herbig-Haro
object emission is generated by energetic jets
from
a newborn star.