NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula

What powers are being used in the wizard nebula? Strong winds and radiations created and dissolved towers of gas. The Wizard nebula is located only 8,000 light years away. The interplay of stars, gas, and dust creates a shape that resembles a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans 100 light years and appears larger than the moon. There is a small telescope that can be used to find the Wizard Nebula. Some of the stars being formed may live longer than our Sun.

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Explanation: The mysterious blue reflection nebula found in catalogs as VdB 152 or Ced 201 really is very faint. It lies at the tip of the long dark nebula Barnard 175 in a dusty complex that has also been called Wolf's Cave. At the center of this deep telescopic view, the cosmic apparitions are nearly 1,400 light-years away along the northern Milky Way in the royal constellation Cepheus. Interstellar dust in the region blocks light from background stars and scatters light from the embedded bright star, giving the end nebula its characteristic blue color. Though stars do form in molecular clouds, this star seems to have only accidentally wandered into the area, as its measured velocity through space is very different from the cloud's velocity. At the image bottom is the planetary nebula Dengel-Hartl 5, while red glowing gas from an ancient supernova remnant is also visible along the image's right side.