North America and the
Pelican
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
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 data. These nebulae can be seen with
binoculars from a dark location. Look northeast of
bright star Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan.
Image Credit & Copyright: Scott Rosen
