Dark Nebula Barnard 163 in Cepheus | Digitized Sky Survey 2

Dark Nebula Barnard 163 in Cepheus | Digitized Sky Survey 2

Barnard 163 is a dark nebula within IC 1396, a very large emission nebula complex in the constellation Cepheus. This interstellar cloud was discovered by Edward Emerson (E. E.) Barnard (1857-1923), an American astronomer and pioneer of astrophotography who began as an amateur comet hunter, earned a degree in mathematics and later worked at Lick Observatory and the University of Chicago. He is also the namesake of Barnard’s star, the second closest known star system to Earth.

The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a ground-based imaging survey of the entire sky in several colors of light produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute through its Guide Star Survey group.

Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Release Date: Jan. 7, 2007

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