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NGC 7380

NGC 7380, also known as the Wizard Nebula, is an open cluster discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. William Herschel included his sister's discovery in his catalog, and labeled it H VIII.77. It is also known as 142 in the 1959 Sharpless catalog (Sh2-142).

 

This reasonably large nebula is located in the constellation Cepheus (king of Aethiopia in Greek mythology). Cepheus is visible in the northern sky, northern hemisphere, much of the year, but is highest in the sky after sunset in the fall.

 

Located 7200 light years away, the Wizard nebula surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans about 100 light years.

 

This image employed the usage of narrow band filters to capture the full extent of the nebulosity which consists of mostly hydrogen and oxygen gases.

The nebula is surrounded by areas of dust best seen on the right side of the image.

 

Capture info:

 

Location: backyard, Las Cruces NM US

Telescope: RASA 11V2

Camera: QHY 268M

Mount: 10 Micron GM2000

Data: HA OIII RGB 18 hours

 

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Uploaded on October 12, 2025