The Cove in Cygnus – LBN 292

Here’s the 292nd entry in Beverly Lynds’ Catalogue of Bright Nebulae (LBN) she published in 1965.

The excellent YouTuber Nico Carver (Nebula Photos) published an image of this in 2021 and it fascinated me so I went after it in August 2022 in my back yard with the Celestron 1100 EdgeHD telescope. He gave it the name “The Cove” because it reminded him of a “seascape with a cove and cliffs.” I think it’s an excellent fit.

The Cove is part of the expansive Cygnus X region—a gigantic star-forming complex in the Cygnus constellation at least 4,600 light years away.

In 1969, H. R. Dickel, H. Wendker and J. H. Bieritz released a paper listing 193 distinct hydrogen-emission nebulas in the Cygnus X complex that has become known as the DWB Catalogue. As best I can tell by converting J2000 Ra/Dec coordinates to 1960s galactic coordinates, parts of the Cove are catalogued as DWB 121 (the left edge), DWB 122 (the right edge), and DWB 124 (the upper part).

There are many such lesser-known areas to explore in the Cygnus X complex. I’ve already done a lot of that and will do much more in the coming years.