At left, the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) glows with a striking blue hue, illuminated by a young star embedded in a dense reflection nebula. This brilliant bloom of starlight lies embedded within a vast expanse of interstellar dust belonging to the dark nebula complex LDN 1148. These cosmic clouds are part of the Cepheus Flare region, located around 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus.

Surrounding the Iris is a sweeping tapestry of obscuring dust that both scatters starlight and conceals distant background stars. On the right side of the frame, twisted tendrils of LDN 1148 weave into complex shapes, suggesting turbulence and motion sculpted by magnetic fields and stellar winds. This deep wide-field view reveals the delicate interplay between light and shadow across one of the sky’s most photogenic dark nebula regions.