October 31, 2009
The universe has spent billions of years making things that shine. On your birthday, we celebrate one of its quieter masterpieces.
VdB 152: Reflection Nebula in Cepheus
Birthday · October 31, 2009
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APOD published October 31, 2009. Credit: Stephen Leshin. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Described as a "dusty curtain" or "ghostly apparition", mysterious reflection nebula VdB 152 really is very faint. Far from your neighborhood on this Halloween Night, the cosmic phantom is nearly 1,400 light-years away. Also cataloged as Ced 201, it lies along the northern Milky Way in the royal constellation Cepheus. Near the edge of a large molecular cloud, pockets of interstellar dust in the region block light from background stars or scatter light from the embedded bright star giving parts of the nebula a characteristic blue color. Ultraviolet light from the star is also thought to cause a dim reddish luminescence in the nebular dust. Though stars do form in molecular clouds, this star seems to have only accidentally wandered into the area, as its measured velocity through space is very different from the cloud's velocity. This deep telescopic image of the region spans about 7 light-years.
Image credit: Stephen Leshin