This is NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula, and the Soap Bubble in Cygnus. (WARNING: My palette choice may induce seizures in those with color sensitivities!) I wanted to see what I could do with this scene in the SHO palette, so I took SII data in addition to the usual Ha and OIII. Both targets are weak in SII, and in fact the Soap Bubble is essentially invisible at this wavelength. The result before color processing was a bright blue nebula that frankly looked like a robin's egg. I wanted to tone that down a little bit as well as to reduce the green somewhat, and this is my first rendition.

On the wider FOV image, the Soap Bubble can be hard to spot. I have framed the image to place the Crescent at about the 2:30 position halfway from the middle, and the Soap Bubble is opposite it at the same distance at 7:30. I encourage you to look at the enlarged image for more clarity.

Revisions G and H show the Crescent and the Soap Bubble, respectively, cropped for easier examination along with the individual narrowband channels. Here the OIII intensity of NGC 6888 can clearly be seen. The Soap Bubble is not visible in SII.

Much has been written elsewhere about NGC 6888. The Soap Bubble was first discovered by an amateur astronomer in 2007.

This is my first published image from my "new" rig, which is actually a reconfiguration of mostly older equipment. I am now able to run two independent imaging rigs, and this one is intended for mostly my smaller and intermediate-sized scopes. What's new is a vented box for housing power strip, power supplies and imaging computer. Concurrent to acquiring this data I also ran my larger rig, and I hope to publish an image from that data shortly. Running two independent systems was challenging at first, but once both were dialed in for the duration of their respective sessions, things ran smoothly.

Now I know why we don't see many published versions of this area in SHO but rather in HOO or other palette variants. It is my intention to return to this and explore other palettes that ought to result in more natural and pleasing images. Enjoy this if you can ...