vdB131
Reflection Nebula in Cygnus
About
A blue reflection nebula in Cygnus, one of three that make up the NGC 6914 complex, which Wikipedia places about 6,000 light-years away. Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 6914 in 1881. SIMBAD lists the Be star BD+41 3731 as vdB 131 itself.
Imaging tips
- About 4′ across, so it is too small to frame: use a long focal length and a fine pixel scale.
- A reflection nebula, so broadband suits it. One imager of the NGC 6914 complex used LRGB plus Hα filters and gathered 25.5 hours in total.
- The other two nebulae of the complex are the vdB 132 pair; vdB 131 sits to their right and a little lower in that imager's frame.
- Best around July and August, peaking near 82° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 4′
- Magnitude
- —
- Coordinates
- RA 20h 24.2m, Dec +42° 18′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Jul, Aug
- Peak altitude
- 82° from 50°N, 83° from 35°N