The North America and Pelican Nebulas
Image Credit & Copyright: Ezequiel Etcheverry
Explanation: Here lie familiar shapes in
unfamiliar locations. On the left is an
emission nebula cataloged as NGC 7000, famous partly because it resembles our fair planet's continent of
North America. The emission region to the right of the
North America Nebula is IC 5070, also known for its suggestive outlines as the
Pelican Nebula. Separated by a dark cloud of
obscuring dust, the two bright nebulae are about 1,500
light-years away. At that distance, the 4 degree wide field of view spans 100 light-years.
This spectacular cosmic portrait combines
narrow band images to highlight bright
ionization fronts with fine details of dark, dusty forms in silhouette. Emission from atomic
hydrogen,
sulfur, and
oxygen is captured in the narrow band image in
scientifically assigned colors.
These nebulae can be seen with binoculars from a
dark location.
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