Sh2-82, Cocoon Nebula

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Informally known as the 'little Trifid Nebula' and the 'Cocoon Nebula', Sh2-82 is a relatively small emission nebula (seen as red) surrounded by a blue reflection nebula. A long dust lane runs diagonally through the image, blocking the light of most of the stars behind it. The image was generated with observations in B (blue), V (green), I (orange) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) filters. In this image, North is right, East is up.