This beautiful emission nebula in Cepheus is part of a nearby arm in our Spiral Galaxy the Milky Way. The rich red coloration is caused by hydrogen gas emission in both red and some blue. The resulting coloration is more pinkish. This object is very near the more famous Bubble nebula, and is often overlooked. The seeing was not good this night and the stars larger than normal.

Instrument:  12.5" f/5 Newtonian
CCD Camera:  SBIG237, FR237 focal reducer
Exposure:  L=20mins, R=10m, G=7m, B=12m
Filters:  RGB
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing 4/10, Transparency 8/10
Temperature:  25 F