Explanation:
Described as a "dusty curtain" or "ghostly apparition",
mysterious reflection nebula VdB 152 really is very faint.
Far from your neighborhood on this
Halloween Night,
the cosmic phantom is nearly 1,400 light-years away.
Also cataloged as Ced 201, it lies along the northern Milky Way
in the royal constellation Cepheus.
Near the edge of a large molecular cloud,
pockets of interstellar dust in the region block light from
background stars or scatter light from the embedded bright star
giving parts of
the nebula
a characteristic blue color.
Ultraviolet light from the star is also
thought
to cause a dim reddish
luminescence
in the nebular dust.
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.
This deep telescopic image
of the region spans about 7 light-years.
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