Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  15 Cyg  ·  19 Cyg  ·  21 Cyg  ·  22 Cyg  ·  25 Cyg  ·  30 Cyg  ·  31 Cyg  ·  31 omi01 Cyg  ·  32 Cyg  ·  32 omi02 Cyg  ·  37 Cyg)  ·  37 gam Cyg  ·  39 Cyg  ·  40 Cyg  ·  42 Cyg  ·  43 Cyg  ·  44 Cyg  ·  47 Cyg  ·  50 Cyg)  ·  50 alf Cyg  ·  51 Cyg  ·  55 Cyg  ·  56 Cyg  ·  57 Cyg  ·  58 Cyg  ·  58 nu. Cyg  ·  59 f01 Cyg  ·  60 Cyg  ·  62 Cyg  ·  62 ksi Cyg  ·  And 827 more.
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Wide field of Sadr region showing North America, Pelican, Gamma Cygni, Crescent and Tulip nebulas, Ben Hayes
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Wide field of Sadr region showing North America, Pelican, Gamma Cygni, Crescent and Tulip nebulas

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Wide field of Sadr region showing North America, Pelican, Gamma Cygni, Crescent and Tulip nebulas, Ben Hayes
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Wide field of Sadr region showing North America, Pelican, Gamma Cygni, Crescent and Tulip nebulas

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The experience.  It was my birthday, which in our family means I got to pick what activity for the day/weekend.   I requested we spend the last weekend in August at Cherry Springs State Park, a nearby dark-sky site (Bortle 2) in central Pennsylvania.    We set up a tent and some telescopes and had a wonderful time.  The nights were clear (but excessively humid, which decreased seeing significantly) and cool.    We rode bike and hiked during the day.

Milky Way shots have always eluded me.  Taking short, 12-15 sec shots with no star tracker using my old Nikon DSLR that had a CCD sensor (not a CMOS) was frustratingly insensitive to low light wasn't something I found enjoyable or rewarding.  The truth of the matter is that I lacked the confidence and patience to do it right.  A couple of years ago, I bought a Canon 60D that was practically new (had less than 800 frames taken on it).  After pondering whether to modify myself and finding it difficult to get my hands on a clear glass filter for over the sensor (supply chain issues), I decided to send it out to have it done professionally.  I was going to send it to LifePixel, but then I heard Nico Carver recommend a company called Astronomy Gear (Daniel Amato), so I sent it there.  He performed the modification, used a high-quality Baader luminance filter cover for the APS-C sensor and overnight express mailed it back to me in time for my birthday trip to Cherry Springs.  I also got a SkyWatcher Star Adventurer star tracker, which opened up all kinds of new possibilities for Milky Way shots.  

Needless to say, I was excited to try it out and see if the modification would enable me to see the Ha nebula in the milky way in wide-field frames.  For this shot, I had a vintage Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI lens from my old came with a Nikkormat 35mm film camera I bought used in the 1960s.   I tethered the camera to an ASIAir (original Raspberry Pi 1 version with a white top and red bottom), which I used to set up the imaging sequence and control the camera remotely.    The ASIAIR's ability to sling individual  photos to my iPad's larger screen was simply great.  It makes it easier for to focus using a Bahtinov mask and preview the image because the ASIAIR app performs an auth-stretch on the color image, meaning you see more than just stars.  If the focal length was greater than 135 or 150, it would even plate solve it for you.  At 50mm, that was impossible, but I was still happy with using it.  I have an intervalometer, which is much quicker, but requires I use the LCD screen on the back of the DSLR for focusing and framing the subject.

The image.  I fully admit that the framing and composition of this photo is not very good.   The color balance and other aspects aren't that great, either.    But see the dust lanes, intergalactic soot, glowing gas fields and several easily-recognizable nebula blew my mind.  Sadr and Deneb stand out like starry sentinels in the night sky.  I love how the old Nikkor lens shutter leaves diffraction spikes on these two stars.    The North America, Pelican and Butterfly (Gamma Cygni) nebulas stand out prominantly.  It's a little like "Where's Waldo" to find the Crescent and tulip nebulas, but if you click the full size image and pan over to the right, they stand right out.

I now realize why so many people are satisfied to do nothing but wide field imaging.  I'm hooked.  And  I was thrilled to see the nebula pop out of the Milky Way core with full-spectrum modified DSLR in ways they never did before.  In mind, it was worth the money.   Granted, it was a questionable decision to invest $269 into modifying an old model DSLR (Canon 60D) with only 18.1 megapixel resolution, but the body was in practically new condition.   I think it will be perfect for wide-angle milky way shots.

Details.  Canon 60Da with Nikkor 500mm f/1.4 AI lens stopped down to f/4.  ISO 400.  Stack of ten, 180 sec (3-minute) exposures for a total integration time of only 30 minutes.  The ASIAir recorded the sensor temperatures ranged between 26°C to 33°C and averaged 21.7°C.  I allowed 5 seconds in between frames to allow the CMOS chip to cool down a little.  I took some calibration frames (30 darks, 30 flats, and 30 bias frames).  I used PixInsight WBPP to stack and calibrate the light frames and perform a little post processing, mostly just cropping, adjusting the color balance, stretching and NoiseXTerminator.    I also did a little star reduction, but not very much.

Comments.  Suggestions, thoughts, and advice are welcome.  Over all, is the image a little too dark?  Did I reduce the stars too much?

Clear Skies everybody! ✨🔭

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Wide field of Sadr region showing North America, Pelican, Gamma Cygni, Crescent and Tulip nebulas, Ben Hayes

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