Also sometimes called the “Angler Fish Nebula”, this is a dark nebula 1000 LYRs away in Cepheus. There are two tiny spiral galaxies that can just be seen…one by the mouth (PGC69472, 150 Million LYRs away) and one just above the tail (LEDA 166755, 300 Million LYRs away). Running from left to upward right just above the pectoral fin region are multiple small, bright areas of dust … these are stellar nurseries in the process of birthing new stars and planetary systems. This nebula is very faint and extremely dark, not making its photographic appearance until stacked and stretched.
Trivia for a fun, historical perspective:
-The light from this nebula left that region of space when William the Conqueror had just started thinking about building the Tower of London, the Vikings were first arriving on Canadian soil and the Byzantine Empire was reaching its greatest territorial extent.
-The light from the galaxy near the fish’s mouth started its journey when the Earth was warm and swampy with no polar icecaps, dinosaurs were dominant and flowering plants were just beginning to evolve.
-The light from the galaxy above the fish’s tail originated when the Earth was dominated by the super continent Pangaea and the global ocean Panthalassa and the first small reptiles had just started to make their appearance.
(This nebula was imaged over two nights in Sequim during a new moon in mid-August of this year)
