NGC 7129

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NGC 7129, also known as the Flower Bud Nebula, is a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus. It lies about 3,300 light-years away and appears about 7 by 7 arcminutes across, with a visual magnitude around 11.5 (faint enough to need a telescope).

The nebula is lit by a young open star cluster of more than 130 stars, all younger than about one million years. Their intense light heats the dust around them, making the cloud glow with a rosy pink color.

The nebula has a rosebud shape because the stars have blown a large bubble in the surrounding cloud. The pink glow comes from dust grains heated by starlight and seen in infrared wavelengths by the Spitzer Space Telescope. Three very young stars near the center shoot jets of gas into the cloud, which helps create the detailed, rose-like structure.

NGC 7129 is located about half a degree from the nearby cluster NGC 7142.