Northern Cepheus contains a strange nebula with a very long name. Gyulbudaghian’s Nebula (JAI-al-boo-dag-ian) was discovered by Armenian astronomer Armen Gyulbudaghian in 1977 and its variability was demonstrated by Martin Cohen in 1981.
It is a strange variable nebula associated with the variable star PV Cephei, which ranges from magnitude 14.6 to 18.1 and lies 1,600 light-years away.
Like Hubble’s Variable Nebula or Hind’s Variable Nebula, the gas cloud changes slightly in shape and in brightness with the star’s variability. When discovered, the nebula was a thin ribbon of light. It has faded and then brightened erratically over time; it has currently dimmed dramatically and almost disappeared.
Gyulbudaghian (1948–2022) was an astronomer at the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory in Yerevan, Armenia. He died just a few years ago after making significant studies in young stars, dark nebulae, and Bok globules, and authoring more than 90 papers.
