vdB149
Reflection Nebula in Cepheus
About
A reflection nebula in Cepheus, lit by the B8 main-sequence star BD+72 1018 and sitting within a far bigger dust cloud. It lies about 1,000 light-years away, and sources put the whole complex, with neighbouring vdB 150, at roughly 1,019 light-years.
Imaging tips
- About 8′ across: at 3030–5050 mm on APS-C it spans a third to half of the frame, so a long focal length is needed.
- Reflection nebulae need broadband; skip narrowband filters.
- It is faint: one imager called such nebulae in this field very low in surface brightness and collected 10.6+ hours of luminance and colour data.
- vdB 150 is about 30′ away, at the cloud's opposite end, so a wider field can hold both; one 75′ × 56′ frame did.
- Best in August and September; it peaks near 67° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 8′
- Magnitude
- —
- Coordinates
- RA 22h 9.1m, Dec +72° 53′
- Framing, APS-C
- 3030–5050 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Aug, Sep
- Peak altitude
- 67° from 50°N, 52° from 35°N