The Cave Nebula, or Sh2-155, is an emission nebula in the constellation of Cepheus, located at roughly 2,400 light years away from Earth. The Cave Nebula is an interesting astronomical feature in the night sky, but it is not one of the most well-known nebulae.
The Cave Nebula is composed primarily of clouds of dust and gas, containing many small stars and protostars that are too dim to be visible from Earth without the help of a telescope. The nebula is believed to be an example of a star-forming region, with dust and gas collapsing to form stars in the area.
The Cave Nebula is quite faint; it is extremely difficult to observe it with the naked eye. However, amateur astronomers can observe and photograph it. Typically, photographs of the Cave Nebula are taken through a H-alpha filter, which is what gives the nebula in this image its reddish color, as is the case in this image.
The Cave Nebula will likely remain as a popular target for astronomers as it has been for many years. Its faint structure is mysterious and worth a closer look, as it reveals a vast and fascinating region of the night sky.
Click on the image to view a larger version you can explore.
Image Info
- Imaged from the KPO field in Saint Cloud, Florida.
- Camera : ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
- Lens: Canon 100-400 f/5.6L lens, set to 386mm
- Mount: iOptron SmartEQ Pro
- Narrowband Hydrogen Alpha: 11 subframes of 300s = 55 min integration, assigned to Red
- Wideband Green: 8 subframes of 300s = 40 min integration, assigned to Green
- Narrowband Oxygen III: 10 subframes of 300s = 50 min integration, assigned to Blue
- Total integration time: 145 min = 2.4 hours.
- Captured via ASIAir Pro automation
- Optical tracking via ASIAir automation, currently using ST4 mount control via the ASI120MM-S guide camera
- Separate channels stacked and HaGO integrated in Astro Pixel Processor
- Image cropped, stretched, and noise processed in Nebulosity
- Final processing in Aperture