D. Heilman Astrophotography

IC59/63 Ghost of Cassiopeia

The central star in the “W” of the constellation Cassiopeia (Navi) is an exceptional B-type variable star of only 8 million years of age. The star changes in brightness and spins fast enough (472 km/s) to produce an equatorial bulge.  During its formation it cast outward a very faint cloud of hydrogen gas which it now irradiates; a glowing apparition of the matter from which it came.