It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other.

— Plato

NGC7538

By marzulloj at Tue, 11/30/2010 - 12:42am
NGC7538

Reflection and emission nebula in Cepheus. Not far from the Bubble Nebula. It is about 10,000 light  years away from Earth. It also harbors the one of the largest protostars known, about 300 times the mass of our sun. The protostar is embedded in a dense gas cloud of 1,000 solar masses.

This image is a result of exposures of 1 hour in H-alpha, 1/2 hour each in RGB. It was taken last night through a 5" refractor at f5 and a starlight express SXVH-9.