An Interstellar Nest (Terry Hancock)

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An Interstellar Nest

The Cocoon Nebula IC5146

It’s been a few years since I photographed the Cocoon Nebula close up. This time I’m using the new APS-H size QHY16200A/QHYOAG-M together with my AT12RC w/AP2.7 reducer @ F6.2 giving me 1867mm Focal Length. This is only 4 x 10 min exposures each channel LRGB and I’m pleasantly surprised to be getting round stars from corner to corner using the big chip QHY16200 especially with the AP Reducer.

Something I never noticed before when I have captured this object in the top right hand corner are 3 very distant galaxies.

Size: 4540x3630 pixels

Captured June 29, 2016

Total integration Time 160 minutes

Location: DownUnderObservatory, Fremont, MI

LRGB 160 min, 4 x 10 min each 1x1

Filters by Optolong

QHY16200A monochrome CCD cooled to -20C

QHYOAG-M Off Axis Guider

Astro-Tech AT12RC

Paramount GT-1100S German Equatorial Mount

Image Acquisition Maxim DL

Pre Processing Pixinsight

Post Processing Photoshop CS6

The Cocoon Nebula is both a reflection nebula and an emission nebula. Located 4,000 light-years away near the constellation Cygnus, the swan. The central star which powers the glowing hydrogen was born just 100,000 years ago, a stellar infant, and will continue to carve out the inner regions of the nebula as its stellar winds blow.

Unmistakable in this image is the reflection nebula which extends away like a tail. Consisting of mostly dusty interstellar material dense enough that it blocks the starlight from behind.

Objects like The Cocoon Nebula are very common, many completely unknown because the molecular cloud hasn't yet birthed a star. Without an ionization source, the cloud of gas and dust will remain dark and will go largely unnoticed.

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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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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Astrometry.net job	n/a
PixInsight job	n/a
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An Interstellar Nest

An Interstellar Nest

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Image Index:

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An Interstellar Nest

An Interstellar Nest

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