APOD: 2026 October 30 – Haunting the Cepheus Flare
The post APOD: 2026 October 30 – Haunting the Cepheus Flare appeared first on NASA Science .
On October 30, 2026, the Astronomy Picture of the Day showcased an ethereal dust expanse drifting through the starlit night in the royal constellation Cepheus. The haunting shapes were, in fact, cosmic dust clouds, visible in their dimly reflected starlight. Located at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex, 1,200 light-years from our own neighborhood, the dusty expanse was over 2 light-years across and illuminated by the young stars of NGC 7023, known as the Iris Nebula.
Embedded within the Ghost Nebula (vdB 141 or Sh2-136) were reddish hints of dense cores, in the early stages of star formation. Spanning nearly six full moons across the sky, these interstellar dust fields were captured in a broad telescopic frame.
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- APOD: 2026 October 30 – Haunting the Cepheus Flare science.nasa.gov
