Vdb 141

The Ghosts Temple In The Sky (Vdb 141)

Total 29h 55min in 7 nights - L 65x900s, R 57x300s, G 50x300s, B 57x300s (L bin 1x1, RGB bin 2x2). RC250 @ f/5.5, ASI2600MM, CEM60, Astrodon filters

Acquisition : APT - Astro Photography Tool (www.astrophotography.app), PHD2

Processing: PixInsight

The Cepheus constellation part of the sky shows part of the Milky Way that host several star forming regions. One of the molecular clouds which spreads from 600 to around 1400 light years away from Earth and is named Cepheus Flare. Near one of Flare edges is the beautifully formed nebula vdB-141 also known as Sh2-136. “vdB” comes after Sidney van den Bergh who discovered the “dark” nature of the object in 1966. “Sh2”comes after from the second edition of Stewart Sharpless emission nebulae catalog published in 1959. It also has popular name “Ghost Nebula”.

Being part of star forming region means that many things are happening. It is a reflection nebula that shines with the light of several stars embedded in it, most obvious is the one in the central blob. In right dark part there is cone shaped area – this is a Bok globule cataloged as CB230. The Bok globules are dark clouds in process of condensing and forming protostars. CB230 is considered to be producing a binary star system. The same place is also cataloged as Herbig Haro object HH 157. The Herbig Haro objects are nebulae around newborn stars that are formed in the nearby clouds by the ionized gas jets emitted by the young stars. It is an interesting area described in the results of different sky surveys.

Copyright: Ivaylo Stoynov