Among all the amazing nebula designs in space, there is one that looks like.. North America! Catalogued as NGC 7000, this nebula is popularly known as.. you guessed it.. the North America Nebula. Giving us another reassurance that God remembers North America.
To the right, just off the North America Nebula's east coast, is IC 5070, whose profile suggests the Pelican Nebula. The two bright nebulae are about 1,500 light-years away, part of the same large and complex star region, almost as nearby as the better-known Orion Nebula. At that distance, the 6 degree wide field of view would span 150 light-years. This careful cosmic portrait uses narrow band images to highlight the bright ionization fronts and the characteristic red glow from atomic hydrogen gas. These nebulae can be seen with binoculars from a dark location. Look northeast of bright star Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan.
Image Credit: Paolo Moroni