NGC 6914

Alt. Designations: NGC 6914
Object Type: reflection nebula
Constellation: Cygnus
Distance: 6 kly
Right Ascension: 20h 24m 43.0s
Declination: +42° 29´ 00"
Visual Magnitude:
Apparent Dimension: 3.0´ X 3.0´
Best Month To View: Jul

The NGC 6914 complex of nebulae lies some 6,000 light-years away, toward the northern constellation Cygnus and the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. With foreground dust clouds in silhouette, both reddish hydrogen emission nebulae and dusty blue reflection nebulae are visible in this photo. Ultraviolet radiation from the massive, hot, young stars of the extensive Cygnus OB2 association ionize the region's atomic hydrogen gas, producing the characteristic red glow as protons and electrons recombine. Embedded Cygnus OB2 stars also provide the blue starlight strongly reflected by the dusty clouds.