Astrophotographer Andre van der Hoeven did not let his light-pollution backyard in the Netherlands stop him from taking this spectacular image of the Cygnus Wall.
The Cygnus Wall is the most active region of the North American Nebula, or NGC 7000. The region is distinguished by a glowing-red color caused by hydrogen gas burning where new stars are in the process of forming. The North American Nebula is approximately 1,800 light-years away and roughly 100 light-years in diameter. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).
Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.
Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
