The North America Nebula & The Pelican Nebula | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The North America Nebula & The Pelican Nebula | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The North America Nebula (NGC 7000), named for its resemblance to the North American continent here on Earth, is located in the constellation of Cygnus, along with the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) at a distance of about 1,800 light years. Most of the nebulosity shown here is in the foreground (superimposed) of the band of the Milky Way. The stars are very dense towards this spiral arm and where the dust and gas thins, their numbers are plain to see.This four frame mosaic subtends more than 4 degrees of the sky. You could easily fit over 30 Moons in this picture! 

The very bright star on the right of the frame is Deneb, and surprisingly it is not associated with the nebula as it is well over 1,500 light years away. Indeed, if Deneb were 50 times closer (30 light years, I am insinuating absolute magnitude) it would be brighter than Venus in the sky and rival the moon! (-7.2 in magnitude). However, the wonderfully glowing clouds shown here are closer, and until recently the star (or stars) responsible for making them glow was a mystery.

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Adam Block
Release Date: June 11, 2014

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