van den Berg (vdB) 141 is a reflection nebula in Cepheus at RA 21hr 16m 26s and DEC +68d 15m 37s.  North is down and the field is ~ 35x35 arcmin.  vdB 141 is illuminated by a newly-formed star, BD +67 1300, an FU Ori type star, still in the process of forming. Named after the young varible star FU Orionis at 1500 light years distance in the constellation of Orion, these stars undergo rapid brightening, perhaps by factors of hundreds in less than one year, followed by gradual dimming over decades.  These are pre-main sequence stars that exhibit large changes in magnitude and spectral type.

vdB141 is also referred to as the Ghost Nebula due to several human-like figures with arms raised, rising up from the top of the cloud structure to the left of the bright reflection.  

This image was processed to highlight the main reflection and to bring out the considerable variability in background nebulosity.

Data were acquired automatically with CCDAutoPilot running Maxim 4.62 using PinpointPro for plate solving. Astrodon Generation 2 LRGB 50mm square  filters were used .  The system was guided with an SBIG ST-402 on an Astrodon MonsterMOAG off-axis guider.  Calibration and initial processing were done in CCDStack and final processing was done in Photoshop CS3.