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The Cocoon’s surroundings

Phil Aichinger/Jamie Macdougall

The Cocoon Nebula (IC 5146) in Cygnus is an emission nebula nestled within dense filaments of gas and dust that extend to the left in this image. Appearing visually as a dark nebula, these filaments are catalogued as Barnard 168. This shot is a collaboration between two U.K. imagers, both using 5-inch f/7.7 refractors to take a total of 224.7 hours of exposure in HαLRGB filters.