H-NGC7380 — Wizard Nebula
Open Cluster in Cepheus
About
The young star cluster in Cepheus at the heart of the Wizard Nebula, about 8,000 light-years away. The binary DH Cephei, made of massive O-type stars, ionizes the surrounding hydrogen; the stars formed within roughly the last 5 million years. It is in the Herschel 400.
Imaging tips
- The framing range for this target is 2020–3370 mm on APS-C, or 3090–5160 mm on full frame.
- An emission nebula, so narrowband suits it. One imager reports Hα shows the most gas and SII the least interesting.
- One page lists 3 nm filters, and another imager reached 10 hours from a Bortle 9 backyard with a 6 nm dual-band filter.
- At 21.2 mag/arcsec² it is dim: one imager gathered 97 hours in 10-minute subs, another only 1 h 22 min unguided and fought background noise.
- Best around August and September, passing within 8° of overhead from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 12′
- Magnitude
- 7.2
- Coordinates
- RA 22h 47.3m, Dec +58° 8′
- Framing, APS-C
- 2020–3370 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 3090–5160 mm
- Best months
- Aug, Sep
- Peak altitude
- 82° from 50°N, 67° from 35°N
Nearby
- Sh2-142 (Wizard Nebula) · 5.0′ away