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I agreeImaging telescope or lens:Takahashi FSQ 106 EDX4
Imaging camera:ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
Mount:SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro (EQMOD)
Guiding telescope or lens:Baader Planetarium Baader Vario 60mm F4.1
Guiding camera:ZWO ASI 290 MM MINI
Software:Photoshop CC, PIXINSIGHT 1.8, Seqence Generator Pro, PHD2 Guiding PHD2 v2.6.5
Filters:Astrodon Narrowband 5nm Ha, Astrodon Tru-Balance Gen2 E-Series - G 36mm, Astrodon Tru-Balance Gen2 E-Series - R 36mm, Astrodon Tru-Balance Gen2 E-Series - L 36mm
Accessory:Optec FocusLynx QuickSync FSQ Motor
Resolution: 4446x3328
Dates:July 7, 2019, July 8, 2019, July 9, 2019, July 10, 2019, July 13, 2019, July 14, 2019
Frames:
Astrodon Tru-Balance Gen2 E-Series - B 36mm: 100x60" (gain: 50.00) -20C bin 1x1
Astrodon Tru-Balance Gen2 E-Series - G 36mm: 87x60" (gain: 50.00) -20C bin 1x1
Astrodon Tru-Balance Gen2 E-Series - R 36mm: 100x60" (gain: 50.00) -20C bin 1x1
Baader Planetarium L 36mm: 857x30" (gain: 50.00) -20C bin 1x1
Astrodon Narrowband 5nm Ha: 91x360" (gain: 139.00) -20C bin 1x1
Integration: 21.0 hours
Darks: ~50
Flats: ~20
Flat darks: ~50
Bias: ~100
Avg. Moon age: 8.59 days
Avg. Moon phase: 60.43%
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 5.00
Astrometry.net job: 2824970
RA center: 21h 51' 1"
DEC center: +47° 29' 45"
Pixel scale: 1.475 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: 170.961 degrees
Field radius: 1.138
Locations: Home Observatory, Schenectady, New York, United States
Data source: Backyard
The Cocoon Nebula (IC 5146, Sh2-125, Caldwell 19) is a bright emission/reflection nebula in the constellation Cygnus. It is 12 minutes across (the span of 15 light years) and has an apparent magnitude of 7.2. The nebula is approximately 4,000 light years away and is an active stellar nursery with many young stars. The star that lights it is approximately 100,000 years old.
The dark tail that extends westward from IC 5146 is Barnard 168, a dark nebula composed of cold molecular interstellar dust.
My goal with this image was not only to capture the Cocoon but also the surrounding faint hydrogen emissions and the two Ha tails emanating from IC 5146 in particular. I have been fascinated by this region of the sky since I first saw Marcel Drechsler's reference image and wanted to attempt to image the bright signal of the nebula in the context of the surrounding dust and gaseous emissions.
Acquisition with ZWO ASI1600 camera with gain/offset settings 50/20 for LRGB and 139/50 for Ha.
Acknowledgements: I used Starnet++ by Nikita Misiura for star extraction and star de-emphasis technique by Adam Block.
Adjusted brightness and contrast.
Cocoon brightness and presentation scale.
Complete reprocess of the data. Ha was included both in the red channel as well as in the super-luminance.
I combined early and late versions in Photoshop using Lighten blending mode to preserve star appearance. A few curve adjustments to improve contrast.
| Northeast Imagers |
| Cloudy Nights |
| Takahashi Refractors |
| ZWO ASI1600MM/QHY163M |
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