Wolf's Cave Nebula

Wolf’s Cave Nebula (VdB 152 and LDN 1217) lies quietly in the constellation Cepheus, far above the main plane of the Milky Way where only the faintest traces of interstellar material drift through space. The dark dust pillar known as LDN 1217 stretches across the field, ending in the soft blue glow of VdB 152, a small reflection nebula illuminated as starlight scatters off fine cosmic dust. Surrounding this structure is an expanse of Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN)—extremely faint, high-latitude galactic dust illuminated not by one nearby star, but by the diffuse combined light of the entire Milky Way. These ghostlike structures are far too faint to be seen visually and only reveal themselves through deep, carefully processed astrophotography. 

This image represents nearly 33 hours of total exposure time, revealing the faint dust, reflection nebula, and IFN in a level of detail that highlights just how much structure exists in what otherwise appears to be empty space.