The North America Nebula

Here's a familiar shape in an unfamiliar location! This emission nebula is famous partly because it resembles Earth's continent of North America. To the right of the North America Nebula , cataloged as NGC 7000 , is a less luminous Pelican Nebula . The two emission nebula measure about 50 light-years across, are located about 1500 light-years away, and are separated by a dark absorption cloud. The nebulae can be seen with binoculars from a dark location. Look for a small nebular patch north-east of bright star Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus . It is still unknown which star or stars ionize the red-glowing hydrogen gas.