IC405

The wandering blue star AE Auriga is the power house of the Flaming Star Nebula (IC405). Ultraviolet radiation emitted by the star causes nearby hydrogen gas to emit red visible light, closer to the star, dust reflects starlight creating a blue reflection nebula.  2m years ago the star was within the Orion Nebula but gravitational interactions with nearby stars resulted in the star being ejected and so it now wanders the skies. 

For the image capture, I decided on a LRGB approach with a Ha blend into the red channel to improve the visibility of the surrounding hydrogen gas.  

The image represents 11 hours integration time.