The bright blue star to the north of this image, AE Auriga, is the illuminating source for the faint nebulous region called the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405). This dust and gas cloud is interesting in that it consists of glowing ionized gas overlaid by lanes of dust which are not energized, but instead reflect the light from AE Auriga in a bluish glow. AE Auriga is a rapidly moving star that originated in the Orion region and is only a 'passing visitor' to the IC 405 dust and gas cloud. It is moving through this cloud and in the future will leave it dark once more.   The star is also called a "runaway star" due to its high velocity through space. Tracing it path back it can be shown to have originated near the Orion Nebula. Two other runaway stars also come from this region, Mu Col and 53 Ari. These stars were ejected when a couple of binary stars interacted about 2.2 million years ago.

Imaging Data

Date: 10-9-2010, Re-Processed 9-11-2011

Location : Sudbury, Massachusetts

Optics : William Optics ZenithStar 66 Semi Apo Refractor

Filter(s) : Astronomik CLS-CCD

Mount : PiggyBack Meade LX-200 on ATS Pier

Autoguiding : None

Camera : Canon EOS 1000D Astro-modified

Exposure info : 30 x 180 second Exposures @ISO 1600

Total Exposure : 90 minutes