Cepheus C and Cepheus B (IRAC-MIPS)

Spitzer_ssc2019-08a_1024

spitzer_ssc2019-08a May 31st, 2019

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This image was compiled using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope using the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) during Spitzer's "cold" mission, before the spacecraft's liquid helium coolant ran out in 2009. The colors correspond with IRAC wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (cyan) and 8 microns (green), and 24 microns (red) from the MIPS instrument.

The green-and-orange delta filling most of this image is a nebula, or a cloud of gas and dust. This region formed from a much larger cloud of gas and dust that has been carved away by radiation from stars.

The bright region at the tip of the nebula is dust that has been heated by the stars' radiation, which creates the surrounding red glow. The white color is the combination of four colors (blue, green, orange and red), each representing a different wavelength of infrared light, which is invisible to human eyes.

The massive stars illuminating this region belong to a star cluster that extends above the white spot.

On the left side of this image, a dark filament runs horizontally through the green cloud. A smattering of baby stars (the red and yellow dots) appear inside it. Known as Cepheus C, the area is a particularly dense concentration of gas and dust where infant stars form. This region is called Cepheus C because it lies in the constellation Cepheus, which can be found near the constellation Cassiopeia. Cepheus-C is about 6 light-years long, and lies about 40 light-years from the bright spot at the tip of the nebula.

The small, red hourglass shape just below Cepheus C is V374 Ceph. Astronomers studying this massive star have speculated that it might be surrounded by a nearly edge-on disk of dark, dusty material. The dark cones extending to the right and left of the star are a shadow of that disk.

The smaller nebula on the right side of the image includes a blue star crowned by a small, red arc of light. This "runaway star" is plowing through the gas and dust at a rapid clip, creating a shock wave or "bow shock" in front of itself.

Some features identified in the annotated image are more visible in the IRAC data alone.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena. Space operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at IPAC at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6610-ssc2019-08a-Cepheus-C-and-Cepheus-B-IRAC-MIPS-

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Cepheus B Cepheus C V374 Ceph
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation
Nebula > Appearance > Dark
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Protostar
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Young Stellar Object
Star > Grouping > Cluster

Distance

Universescale1
2,400 light years
Spitzer_ssc2019-08a_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 23h 1m 37.9s
DEC = 62° 22’ 17.0”
Orientation
North is 4.1° CCW
Field of View
2.4 x 1.0 degrees
Constellation
Cepheus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 3.6 µm
Cyan Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Near-IR) 4.5 µm
Green Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Red Spitzer (MIPS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 24.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Cyan
Green
Red
Spitzer_ssc2019-08a_1280
×
ID
ssc2019-08a
Subject Category
B.4.1.2   B.4.2.3   B.3.1.1   B.3.1.2   B.3.6.4  
Subject Name
Cepheus B, Cepheus C, V374 Ceph
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2019-05-31
Lightyears
2,400
Redshift
2,400
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6610-ssc2019-08a-Cepheus-C-and-Cepheus-B-IRAC-MIPS-
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRAC, IRAC, MIPS
Color Assignment
Blue, Cyan, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
3600, 4500, 8000, 24000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
345.40787925340669, 62.371388995407429
Reference Dimension
14391, 6232
Reference Pixel
7195.5, 3116
Scale
-1.66670000000000e-04, 1.66670000000000e-04
Rotation
4.131000
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2019-08a.tif
Metadata Date
2019-05-30
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
2,400 light years

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