An open star cluster wrapped in a cocoon of emission nebulosity in Cepheus, about 7,200 light-years from Earth. The young, hot stars at the cluster's core — only a few million years old — illuminate and ionise the surrounding hydrogen gas, while their radiation and stellar winds sculpt the nebula into pillars and ridges. The overall shape, with a bit of imagination, resembles a cloaked wizard figure, though the resemblance becomes clearest in narrowband palettes where the structural detail stands out.

The cluster itself is relatively young by cosmic standards and is still embedded in the gas cloud from which it formed — a snapshot of star formation in progress.