| Nebula | |
|---|---|
 Image of vdB 158 Nebula | |
| Observation data: epoch | |
| Right ascension | 23h 37m 51.60s |
| Declination | +48° 29′ 47.6″ |
| Distance | 1,435 ly (440 pc) |
| Constellation | Andromeda |
| Designations | vdB 158, LBN 534 |
vdB 158 is a reflection nebula located in the constellation of Andromeda. [1]
Its position is located approximately two degrees north of Lambda Andromedae, a star of magnitude 3.81. It is the illuminated part of a long cloud of dark gas and dust that extends in a northeast-southwest direction, known as GAL 110-13, whose elongated shape would be the result of the collision between two molecular clouds, from which a compression was derived that caused phenomena of star formation within it. [2] [3]
The cloud is illuminated by two blue-white dwarf stars of spectral class B9V, catalogued as HD 222046 [4] and HD 222086, [5] to which is added a third of class B8V, HD 222142, [6] which is primarily responsible for the light received by the cloud, these three stars show a common proper motion, indicating that they are a group of stars physically linked to each other and that they have a common origin. Furthermore, their distance of about 400 parsecs (1435 light-years) places them in the same region as Lacerta OB1, an OB association whose brightest star is 10 Lacertae. These star formation phenomena could also have been favored by the explosion of a supernova generated by one of the most massive members of the Lac OB1 association, as well as by the action of the stellar wind of the most massive components of the system, which also contributed to shape the GAL 110-13 cloud. The event of the supernova explosion would also be confirmed by the presence of some escaped stars observed in the surroundings of the association. [7] [8] A small planetary nebula, PK 110-12.1 [9] is located nearby, often visible in wide-field images to the northwest of vdB 158.
