Resembling the profile of a celestial lion, Sh2-132 is a sprawling emission nebula located in the constellation Cepheus. Its glowing hydrogen regions, shown here in rich orange, are sculpted by the energetic winds and radiation from nearby massive stars. The blue-green areas trace doubly ionized oxygen, highlighting pockets of intense star-forming activity. This region is nearly twice the size of the full Moon, making it a rewarding but challenging target for astrophotographers.

This detailed image represents over 60 hours of total exposure, captured remotely from ARO in Portugal. The combination of long integration time and narrowband filters reveals intricate dark dust lanes, filaments of glowing gas, and the subtle transitions between ionization zones.