IC 5070 or the Pelican Nebula in modified SHO format

Ionization fronts and cold gas in the Pelican Nebula. Data Credit: PIRATE robotic telescope SHO filters. Mount Teide, Tenerife. telescope.org Open Observatories, Open University. Image credit: Pip Stakkert at the JPO..

"The Pelican Nebula is a goto target for Northern Hemisphere  summer astro-imagers and sits next to the North America Nebula NGC7000 in the constellation Cygnus. The above narrowband image shows the delicate interplay of light and shadow: the glowing plasma energized by young stars and the cold dark lanes marking where future stars are gestating. The visible filaments trace the ionization fronts—the boundaries between the ultraviolet-irradiated cavities and the shielded interiors of molecular clouds.

In effect, the above image is a portrait of cosmic evolution in progress: the raw interstellar medium being sculpted into stars, planetary systems, and eventually the building blocks of life itself". - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

The North America and Pelican Nebulae in the Constellation Cygnus. Image credit: Kurt Thrust at the JPO

"Our narrow band SHO image, captured with the PIRATE telescope, depicts IC 5070, more commonly known as the Pelican Nebula, a large emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus, not far from its companion, the North America Nebula (NGC 7000). Both regions are part of an extended complex of ionized hydrogen gas (an H II region) that lies about 1,800 light-years away in the Orion Arm of our Milky Way galaxy.

What we have imaged is essentially a stellar nursery: a vast cloud of hydrogen, dust, and other trace elements undergoing active star formation. The striking forms in IC 5070—its ridges, filaments, and dark channels—arise from the interaction between intense ultraviolet radiation from nearby massive stars and the dense molecular cloud material.

Ionization and Emission

The gas in IC 5070 glows because young, hot O- and B-type stars in the region emit torrents of ultraviolet light.

This radiation strips electrons from surrounding hydrogen atoms, a process known as photoionization. When the electrons recombine with protons, they emit visible light—most notably in the red H-alpha line (656.3 nm). This is why narrowband astrophotography often reveals IC 5070 with a red or magenta dominance.

Dark Dust Lanes

The jagged black regions cutting through the glowing gas are dense molecular clouds of dust and cold gas.

These clouds absorb and scatter visible light, producing the intricate silhouetted structures that make the Pelican Nebula so recognizable. Within these dark regions, protostars are forming, hidden from optical wavelengths but detectable in infrared.

Stellar Feedback

The radiation pressure and stellar winds from massive young stars push against the molecular material, carving cavities, compressing clouds, and triggering further star formation at the boundaries of these regions.

This feedback loop is a defining characteristic of giant H II regions: they are both destroyers and creators—dissipating the nebula even as they seed new generations of stars.

Overall Context

IC 5070, along with NGC 7000, is part of a giant molecular cloud complex spanning several degrees of sky, visible in wide-field astrophotography, (see Kurt's above  image) as a grand tapestry of glowing hydrogen and sculpted dust.

Astronomers often study it as an analog for stellar nurseries in other galaxies, since its proximity gives us a clearer laboratory for understanding massive star formation and interstellar medium dynamics". -Kurt Thrust current Director of the  JPO and Professor G.P.T Chat visiting astrophysicist .