vdB152/Cederblad201 in Cepheus

I have never imaged this dim object and so I thought I'd give it a try. You know, try something easy - hah. Anyway, I think it looks like a cosmic monster sucking up stars as it crawls along -- look, there are three in a row ready to be eaten!!

http://www.tvdavisastropics.com/astroimages-1_00001b.htm

I found this region challenging to process with all it's subtle details.

I hope you like it. The attached image is a cropped view of the central nebula.

Best,
Tom Davis
Inkom, ID

Attached Image:

Great image! Not to take anything away from your superb skills but you must have some fantastic skies as well.
Nicely done.

Simply WONDERFUL! 8)
Sweet colors & detail Thomas, well done!

Great work as always Tom !

Tom,
That is absolutely amazing. You may have chosen a tough target, but you have done it justice and then some. I got chills seeing that "ghost" appear on my screen.
Larry

Another beauty Tom!


Jason

Tom,

You have done this object justice! Your version ranks among those that have made APOD! Great job!

I've never seen it as you described it (the cosmic monster). Now it's all I see, especially in this orientation. It looks like a giant star-eating slug in space. It also now reminds me of one of my favorite Star Trek (classic) episodes, "The Doomsday Machine". Which reminds me of an anecdote about that machine. A writer for the series looks at the model for the doomsday machine and comments "what is this?!? It looks like a wind sock that's been dipped in cement!" To which Gene Rodenberry says "That's because it *is* a wind sock dipped in cement!"

Eric