images

IC 1318 Butterfly nebula in Cygnus

by

R.Gendler/Novapix

Reference

a-nec13-18002

Date

2006-08-27

This is a large area of emission nebulosity around Sadr, Gamma Cygnii, the brightest star in this photo and the heart of Cygnus. Most of the nebulosity is fairly faint, but brighter patches can be seen in a modest instrument. The two sections of nebulosity to the left of Gamma are called the Butterfly Nebula and have the catalog designation of IC 1318. LDN 889 is the large area of dark nebulosity that separates the two halves of the Butterfly Nebula, and B 343 is the small but very dense dark nebula on the right side of the image. This is a hydrogen alpha color composite image.