Cepheus is a constellation which is in the middle of this telescopic image taken by Tony Hallas. NGC 7129, a reflection nebula (left) and NGC 7142, an open star cluster can also be seen. Both appear very close, but actually lie at very different distance. The dusty nebula NGC 7129 is is about 3000 light-years away, while the open cluster NGC 7142 is is about 6000 light-years away. The clumpy dust clouds in the foreground redden the light from NGC 7142, which makes astronomical studies of this cluster much more complicated. NGC 7142 is thought to be an older open star cluster, while NGC 7129 is only about 1 million years young. Despite all the dust, far off background galaxies can be seen in this colorful cosmic view. I really liked this picture because you can see the distinct degrees of difference between the nebula and cluster. You can also distincly see the appearance of red light coming from NGC 7142.
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