The Iris Nebula is a bright reflection nebula located about 1,300 light years from Earth in the constellation of Cepheus.
Click the image to zoom in (4 steps), then again for full view · hover to see it annotated · open full resolutionAnnotated image · click to zoom in (4 steps), then again for full view · open full resolutionSky location chart · click to zoom in (4 steps), then again for full view · open full resolution
The Iris Nebula is a bright reflection nebula located about 1,300 light years from Earth in the constellation of Cepheus. The nebula is illuminated by a magnitude +7.4 star designated HD 200775. It is six light-years across. The nebula was discovered in 1794 by Sir William Herschel, an astronomer, where it was then added to the New General Catalogue (NGC).
[Source: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_Nebula]
Annotated Image
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Sky Location
The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.
Image Details
| Moon Phase: | Last Quarter |
|---|---|
| Camera: | ToupTek ATR2600C |
| Optics: | Skywatcher Esprit 120ED, 840 mm focal length, f/7 (120 mm aperture, APO triplet) |
| Filter: | Clear |
| Binning: | 1x1 |
| Stacking: | StackingWizard, 17 of 18 frames stacked |
| Date: | 2026-11-01 |
| Number of images: | 17 |
| Exposure per image: | 10 min (600 s) |
| Total imaging time: | 2 h 50 min |
AstroWizard Processing
- True-color mapping
- BlurXTerminator (0.6)
- NoiseXTerminator (0.6) (x2)
- Star recombination (screen blend)
