Since NGC 7380 was the first target I ever published an image of, the Wizard Nebula is a bit of a dear object to me.
My first photograph wasn't very great in hindsight (to quote myself, "It's not the best, but I'm still happy with it"), so I hope this time around I was able to capture the beauty of this wonderful target as properly is I could.
Discovered in 1787 by Caroline Herschel, NGC 7380 is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation of Cepheus, about 7200 light-years away from us.
Due to its shape resembling a person with a big hat, a pointy noise, and a wizard robe, the nebulosity surrounding the star cluster is often referred to as "the Wizard Nebula".
With an angular size of almost a full moon in our night-sky, the nebula spans around 110 light-years, at an estimated age of 4 to 11.9 million years.
The molecular cloud surrounding the star cluster consists of mostly hydrogen , which is ionized by strong ultraviolet light from the young stars within the nebula.
Due to this, regions like this are also referred to as "H II regions" (H meaning Hydrogen, II meaning singly-ionized).
Once the hydrogen starts to re-emit the light from the young stars, it becomes visible within the red part of the spectrum.
By using a monochromatic camera and physical filters, the light from the hydrogen and other gases, like oxygen and sulphur, can be singled out and assigned to specific colour channels.
This is why in some images like this one, the usually bright red H II regions receive a stunning yellow-golden hue.
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