NGC 7000 - The North America Nebula

The North America Nebula, NGC 7000, is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb (its brightest star). It measures 3 degrees north to south and 2.3 degrees east to west, and covers an area more than four times the size of the full moon.

NGC 7000 was discovered by William Herschel on October 24th, 1786 from Slough, England. It can be seen with the unaided eye under dark, transparent skies as a conspicuous Milky Way patch due east of Deneb. Its entire outline, except for the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Panama, is visible in 10 x 50 binoculars.

To the north the nebula fades imperceptibly into a brilliant Milky Way background glow. With a filter, the "North America" shape of NGC 7000 is vaguely visible. The nebula is brightest in the narrow portion corresponding to Mexico. The dark notch that forms the Gulf of Mexico is obvious.

The North America Nebula and the nearby Pelican Nebula, (IC 5070) are in fact parts of the same interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen. Between the Earth and the nebula complex lies a band of interstellar dust that absorbs the light of the stars and nebulae behind it, and is thereby responsible for the shape as we see it.

The distance to the nebula complex is not precisely known, nor is the star responsible for ionizing the hydrogen so that it emits light. If the star inducing the ionization is Deneb, as some sources say, the nebula complex would be about 1800 light years distant, and its absolute size would be about 100 light years.