UAE: Ghost Nebula 1,470 light years away photographed from Abu Dhabi

The Ghost Nebula has been spotted in UAE skies. Located 1,470 light years away, this astronomical phenomenon was named after its cartoon ghost like shape.

The image, taken by Al Khatem Astronomical Observatory with a 14-inch primary telescope, took 43.5 hours to capture.

The Ghost Nebula is a reflection nebula located in the Cepheus constellation. A reflection nebula is a collection of cosmic gas and dust that glows by reflecting the light of nearby stars. This is in contrast to emission nebulae which can glow by itself.

In this image, several bright stars that reflect their light onto the nebula can be seen, making it appear yellow-brown.

It takes light two years to travel from one end of the nebula to the other. What distinguishes this nebula is the formation on the left of the image, which resembles the shape of small people raising their hands upwards.

The image was taken with a focal length of 2737mm, and the amount of light pollution in the monitoring area ranged between 6 and 7.

A total of 870 photos, over a duration of 43.5 hours, were taken of the Ghost Nebula, which includes 593 photos using the (Luminance) filter, with each lasting 3 minutes, for a total of 20 hours; 133 photos using the red filter, for a total of 6.7 hours; 71 photos using the green filter, for a total of 3.6 hours; and 73 photos using blue filter, for a total of 3.7 hours.