Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cepheus (Cep)  ·  Contains:  LBN 598  ·  PK120+18.1  ·  Sh2-174
SH2-174, The Valentine Rose Nebula, Chris Plonski
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SH2-174, The Valentine Rose Nebula

SH2-174, The Valentine Rose Nebula, Chris Plonski
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SH2-174, The Valentine Rose Nebula

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Description

SH2-174, also known as the Valentine Rose Nebula, is located in Cepheus.  It is an unusually shaped ancient planetary nebula. Planetary nebulae are formed when modest sized stars like our Sun near the end of their fuel supply and blow off their outer atmosphere which generally forms an expanding spherical cloud of ionized gasses. The star itself ends up becoming a white dwarf and is usually found near the center of the sphere. This nebula is unique due to how the cloud of gas has acquired an irregular shape as well as the white dwarf being off center (seen here in the center of the blue area). This is due to the interaction of the nebula with the interstellar media.

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