vdB
14 & 15 - Reflection Nebulae
in Camelopardalis plus Sh2-202
Here's the full field that still doesn't get all of Sh2-202:
VdB 14 (right) and VdB 15 (left) are reflection nebulae, a small part
of a large dust cloud in Camelopardalis including Sharpless 202 aka
Sh2-202.
The full field can be seen at the bottom
of this very wide field shot from 2010:
https://www.astrofoto.ca/stuartheggie/ccd_photos/Sh2-202_HaRGB_FSQ_U16M.html
VdB 14 is illuminated by the magnitude 4.29 star HD 21291 - variable
blue supergiant of type Alfa Cygni, which also has the name CS
Camelopardalis. Together with the surrounding stars it forms the
central part of an OB association known as Cam OB1, placed at a
distance of about 2600 light years from the Solar System, on the outer
edge of the Orion's Arm. VdB 15 is a large bank of gas illuminated by
the bright star HD 21389, well visible to the naked eye thanks to its
magnitude of 4.55. HD 21389 is also a variable blue supergiant of type
Alfa Cygni, being catalogued also as CE Camelopardalis. The distance to
VdB 15 is also 2600 l.y., which means VdB 14 and VdB 15 are close in
space. In fact, both of them are part of the same molecular cloud.
[Source: https://www.irida-observatory.org/CCD/VdB14_15/VdB14_15.html]
Camera: ZWO ASI6200MC Pro
Scope: AP110GTX
150 x 5 min
Paramount MyT UNguided
Image acquisition with TSX
Calibration and processing all in PixInsight: GradientCorrection, SPCC,
BlurX, NoiseX, Curves, HistogramTransformation.
Final touch-ups in Photoshop: Added Clarity via Camera Raw filter. Some
noise reduction and then cropping.
Click on the image to see them fill the screen but still only 50% of
the full size.
Captured Sept 2025
Lucknow, Ontario
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