The Iris Nebula (also known as NGC 7023 and Caldwell 4) is a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. The designation NGC 7023 refers to the open cluster within the larger reflection nebula designated LBN 487.
The nebula, which shines at magnitude +6.8, is illuminated by a nameless magnitude +7.4 star designated HD 200775. It is located near the Mira-type variable star T Cephei, and near the bright magnitude +3.23 variable star Beta Cephei (Alfirk). It lies just over 1,300 light-years away and is six light-years across.
I took this image on December 12, 2004 using my 8″ Celestron Telescope with my Hyperstar which changed the focal length to 390mm and F1.9. I took 300 20 second exposures @ 100 gain. I canged the ROI in Sharpcap to 3000×3000 to grab a closer view. As always I processed the images in Pixinsight,
