Wizard Nebula, NGC 7380

Wizard Nebula, NGC 7380 What powers are being wielded in the Wizard Nebula? Gravitation strong enough to form stars, and stellar winds and radiations powerful enough to create and dissolve towers of gas. Located only 8,000 light years away, the Wizard nebula, featured here, surrounds a developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears like a fictional medieval sorcerer.  The active star forming region spans about 100 light years, making it appear larger than the angular size of the moon which is 30 arc minutes. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small telescope toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia, Cepheus. Although the the nebula may live to only a few million years, some of the stars being formed may outlive our Sun. The image was taken in Jackson WY using a Planewave 20″ telescope and was imaged over two periods separated by 10 years, with the most recent being August 2026. The imaging was done using narrowband filters and is in false color with red assigned to Sulfur emission, green from Hydrogen emission, and blue from Oxygen.