This is from last month – a picture of the Wizard Nebula, an emission nebula about eight thousand light years from Earth. The nebula is embedded within a cluster of stars known as NGC 7380, which are responsible for supplying the ionizing radiation. This one is small as nebulae go, subtending an angle of only 25 arcminutes in the sky. Since I am only taking wide-field images at this time, that means this one is heavily cropped and zoomed in. It’s called the Wizard Nebula, because it looks like a wizard in a pointy hat. There are a few attractive star formation pillars, one of which to my eye, looks like a person with arms outstretched in front, as if making a plea to the wizard.
