NGC 7380 - Wizard Nebula
The Wizard Nebula lies in the constellation Cepheus and is approximately 8,000 light-years away. This very active nebula forms dust columns that make it resemble the figure of a wizard. The nebula itself has the designation Sh2-142 and surrounds the open star cluster NGC 7380. This type of nebula is the birthplace of new stars. These are formed when highly dispersed molecular clouds begin to collapse under their own gravity, often due to a nearby supernova explosion. The cloud collapses and its fragments form up to hundreds of new stars. Newly formed stars ionize the surrounding gas and form an emission nebula.
The photo was taken under decent conditions over three nights. In total, approximately 110 exposures were taken; after discarding the bad ones, 100 ten-minute pictures remained, i.e. about 16.5 hours of exposures. The image was completely processed in PixInsight. Since the nebula shines significantly in the H-alpha and OIII bands, it would be interesting to add other narrowband exposures.