IC 63 — The Ghost of Cassiopeia

Target & processing

The Ghost of Cassiopeia, IC 63, appears as a wispy, ethereal region within the constellation Cassiopeia's distinctive W-shape. As an H II region, it is a vast, ionized gas cloud shaped by intense star formation and stellar winds. Located in the northern sky, Cassiopeia is easily recognizable by its 'W' or 'M'-shaped pattern of stars, situated near the celestial pole. At 550 light-years away, IC 63 remains an enigmatic yet beautiful sight in the night sky.

I really like this nebula. I'm not sure why it's called 'The Ghost of Cassiopeia', because to me it looks more like a fox playing with a ball (the ball being the star Gamma Cassiopeiae, a fast-spinning, variable blue subgiant star), view from the top (zenithal) with the 'blue-ish' part being the tale, and the triangular part being the head.

This one is a bit difficult to capture from a Bortle 9 sky, as a significant part of it's signal needs to be captured with broadband filters, capturing also lots of light pollution.

This was my first attempt at capturing it, but not the last for sure.