Pelican Nebula

This is an area of interstellar hydrogen that is ionized. It is associated with the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The Pelican is studied because it has a very active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds. The light from young energetic stars slowly transforms cold gas to hot causing an ionization front to gradually move outward. In the upper middle of this picture, you can see filaments of cold gas that still remain. The Pelican is about 1,800 light years from earth. This image was captured over 4 days in June 2025 with a 10 inch Newtonian telescope.