What is the difference between a fruit loop and the large hadron collider? :) (Zach Jacobson)

What is the difference between a fruit loop and the large hadron collider? :)

Although the title seems like a start to a bad dad joke, it holds some meaning to this image as this is the very first imaging project I completed for a DSO, and it's the Cygnus "Loop". I intentionally set out to get an image of the Cygnus Loop one summer night with a small star tracker and my stock mirrorless camera and a 35mm lens (great for daytime, but not at all what is recommended for this). Processing was done all with open source programs, and this final image posted is an extremely cropped portion of the final result (as I could only get a small section of the field to focus using this lens). I know I tried to incorporate some calibration frames when stacking, but I can't recall exactly what I did. All in all, I am pretty proud of this fruit-loop of a result as I feel it really punched above its weight in regards to the level of my equipment (and my skills). I am looking forward to continuing this hobby as time allows, and maybe one day I can share my own metaphorical LHC. Clear skies!

Also, before anyone else beats me to it...

What is the difference between a fruit loop and the large hadron collider? One is made out of a particular cereal, the other does ‘cereal’-sly interesting science on particles.

Please note: The following tables are updated every 24 hours.

Distribution of astrophotographers

This table shows the number of distinct astrophotographers who have been assigned and IOTD/TP award compared to the total number of images awarded.
	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

Distribution of subject types

This table shows the distribution of awards per subject type, compared to the popularity of images of that subject type.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

Distribution of data sources

This table shows the distribution of awards per data source, compared to the popularity of images acquired from that data source.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

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