D. Heilman Astrophotography

IC 417 - Spider and Fly

This nebula, approximately 10,000 ly distant, is in the opposite direction of the galactic center placing it in the outer region of the Milky Way. It is home to many young stars in the core area but there are also many stars embedded in the "tail" of the nebula as well as the "bud" projecting into the core which are obscured by gas and dust (revealed last April by IR data from Spitzer).