The Tulip Nebula (Foraxx)

Cygnus, Cygnus, Cygnus… everything seems to be in Cygnus in July and August. The Tulip Nebula is no exception. It is an HII emission nebula, also known by its code in the second edition of the Sharpless catalog, Sh2-101.

Located about 6,000 light-years away, it owes its shape to a single hot, massive star whose radiation lights up the surrounding gas into a curved petal-like form that gives it its name.

It sits in a busy corner of Cygnus, not far from Cygnus X-1, one of the first black holes ever identified.