This project started as a filler target back in Feb 2022. I knew it would be ambitious given my London light polluted skies not to mention most of the time NGC 7023 sat squarely in the middle of the Heathrow light dome just to the north of my location. Why has it taken so long for me to process? The gradients. Shooting targets like these in my area with an OSC is a lesson in itself. There's a reason dark skies are preferred, if not required for objects like these. For now, lesson learned and it's time to move on.
NASA Summary:These cosmic clouds have blossomed 1,300 light-years away in the fertile starfields of the
constellation Cepheus. Called the Iris Nebula,
NGC 7023 is not the only nebula to evoke the imagery
of flowers. Still, this
deep telescopic image shows off the Iris Nebula's range of colors and symmetries embedded in surrounding fields of interstellar dust. Within the Iris itself, dusty nebular material surrounds a hot, young star. The dominant color of the brighter reflection nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight.
Central filaments of the reflection nebula glow with a faint reddish photoluminescence as some dust grains
effectively convert the star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Infrared
observations indicate that this nebula contains complex carbon molecules known as
PAHs. The dusty blue petals of the Iris Nebula span about six light-years.
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