NGC 7380 (also known as the Wizard Nebula) is an open cluster
discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. William Herschel
included his sister's discovery in his catalog, and labelled
it H VIII.77. It is also known as 142 in the 1959 Sharpless
catalog (Sh2-142). This reasonably large nebula is located
in Cepheus. It is extremely difficult to observe visually,
usually requiring very dark skies and an O-III filter.

Located 7200 light years away, the Wizard nebula, surrounds
developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay
of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some
like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming
region spans 100 about light years, making it appear larger than
the angular extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located
with a small telescope toward the constellation of the King of
Aethiopia (Cepheus). Although the nebula may last only a few
million years, some of the stars being formed may outlive our Sun.