The Milky Way and spectacular nebulae in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. The most notable feature in this region is the North America Nebula near bright star Deneb (Alpha Cygnus). While the nebula is barely visible to unaided eye (under dark skies) as a faint color-less patch of light, it is a spectacular and colorful object in long exposure astophotos like this. The purple red emission nebula is about 2000 light years away and spans 3 degrees in the sky, which means over 6 times the apparent diameter of the Moon.