APOD 2.2

October 30, 2010.     Ghost of the Cepheus Flare.

Being Halloween time, it is only fitting that the APOD I chose was of a ghost.  This picture is actually titled the Ghost of the Cepheus Flare, and since we recently learned about the constellation Cepheus, or the King, it was even more appropriate to choose this picture.  The brown shadow that forms the ghostlike apparition is actually a cosmic dust cloud that is being reflected in the starlight.  The bright blue object shown in the picture is actually the Cepheus Flare located 1200 light years away in the northern part of the milky way.  The core of the cosmic dust cloud that forms the apparition is actually collapsing upon itself and it much like the process of a binary star system.  While I found this picture to be one of the most interesting yet, there was little information provided about it and the links were of little relevance so it was hard to gather much information about the topic.