Sh2-142 — Wizard Nebula
HII Region in Cepheus
About
The Wizard Nebula, the glowing hydrogen around the young cluster NGC 7380 in Cepheus, about 8,000 light-years away. DH Cephei, a close pair of heavyweight O-type stars at the cluster's centre, supplies most of the ionizing light. Caroline Herschel discovered the cluster in 1787.
Imaging tips
- At 1210–2020 mm on APS-C or 1860–3090 mm on full frame it spans a third to half of the frame, with the NGC 7380 cluster just 5′ away at its heart.
- An emission nebula, so narrowband suits it. One imager reports Ha shows the most gas and SII the least.
- One page lists 3 nm filters, and another imager reached 10 hours from a Bortle 9 backyard with a 6 nm dual-band filter.
- One imager gathered 97 hours in 10-minute subs, while another had only 1 h 22 min unguided and fought background noise.
- Best around August and September, peaking near 82° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 20′
- Magnitude
- —
- Coordinates
- RA 22h 47.5m, Dec +58° 3′
- Framing, APS-C
- 1210–2020 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 1860–3090 mm
- Best months
- Aug, Sep
- Peak altitude
- 82° from 50°N, 67° from 35°N
Nearby
- H-NGC7380 (Wizard Nebula) · 5.0′ away