IC 5070 — The Pelican Nebula
Captured with: Seestar S50 Smart Telescope
Distance: ~1,800 light-years
Constellation: Cygnus
Type: Emission Nebula / Star-Forming Region
Apparent Size: ~60 × 50 arcminutes
The Pelican Nebula, catalogued as IC 5070, is a region of active star formation on the edge of a vast molecular cloud complex. Separated from its neighbor, the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), by a dark river of interstellar dust, the Pelican’s shape is sculpted by powerful radiation from nearby hot young stars.
Through the Seestar S50, the nebula reveals intricate waves and pillars of glowing hydrogen gas, tinted red by ionized emission. Within these clouds, gravity pulls material together to form new stars, while stellar winds carve the surrounding gas into graceful curves and arcs.
This interplay between creation and erosion makes IC 5070 a living portrait of stellar evolution in progress. Astronomers have identified Herbig-Haro objects here — bright jets of material ejected by forming stars that collide with nearby gas at hundreds of kilometers per second.
The Pelican Nebula is a reminder that the universe’s most beautiful structures are not static. They are the visible signatures of change — clouds collapsing, stars igniting, and light transforming dust into art across the canvas of the cosmos.