vdB1

VdB1 is a small reflection nebula in the Cassiopeia constellation.  It's approximately 1600 light years distant and about 5 light years across.  It consists of dust and gas which are illuminated by bright nearby stars.  The scattered light from these stars appears blue since scattering is greater at shorter wavelengths.   

Another interesting object within the field of view, is a somewhat strange looking looped nebula.   This is an example of star formation and several herbig-haro (HH) objects are also located in this vicinity. HH objects are bright patches of nebulosity which are created when high speed partially ionised gases ejected by stars collide with nearby gas and dust.   I've marked the location of these objects on the annotated version which is also in this gallery.

The image below represents just under 13 hours integration time and was taken with my Esprit 150.