The Iris Nebula in the constellation of Cepheus floats like a delicate violet flower 1,200 light years away and is illuminated by a young hot 7.4 magnitude star at its core.   It is a complex mixture of emission, reflection, and dark nebula; listed as van den Berg 139 and LBN 487.  Brilliant blue starlight reflecting from a cloud of dust provides most of the Iris Nebula's shimmering facade, tempered by faint red luminescence of dust grains energized by intense ultraviolet radiation.  Additional dust that is more distant from the central star reflects light only dimly, creating an opaque veil hiding more distant background stars. 

IMAGE DETAILS:

• Date & Location:  August 7 & 10, 2010  - Bernville, PA

• Weather:  Calm, 58F & 65F.

• Sky Conditions:  Clear with average transparency 7th, below average on the 10th.

• Optics:  TeleVue NP101is Refractor with 0.8x TeleVue Reducer = 432mm @ f4.3

• Filter:  Astronomic  EOS clip-in CLS-CCD (Light Pollution Suppression)

• Mount:  Losmandy G-11 equatorial with Gemini V4

• Guiding:  Orion Solitaire w/TeleVue TV60is

• Camera:  Canon T1i (500D) Hap Griffin Modified - Baader UV/IR

• Exposure:  30 min (3 x 5min, 1 x 7min, 1 x 8) @ ISO 800 RAW

• Calibration Frames:  In Camera Dark Noise Reduction

• Processing:  Images Plus 3.82b, Photoshop CS4, NIK

• Comments:  The above image is a bit dim and small for a 4" scope but image processing was able to bring out some of the faint surrounding dark nebulosity.  Many more images are necessary to bring out the faint details.