This Sharpless object is an extremely faint emission nebula which is located about 4 degrees west of the huge nebula IC 1396 in the constellation Cepheus. It has an interesting shape and surrounds a loose association of (slightly brighter) stars which are located slightly above the image's center. This asterism is probably connected to the nebula and provides the UV light which excites the hydrogen in the nebula and causes it to emit light.
The reddish-blue haze surrounding the star in the lower left corner of the image is a small combined emission/reflection with the designation vdB140 in van den Bergh's catalog of faint nebulae.
Sh2-129 in Cepheus, Wright-Newtonian photograph.
Exposure Data
