I took this image during 5 nights in August 2022. This is my first long-term project (at least it was long-term for me
).
This molecular cloud that looks somewhat like an giant cosmic question mark lies in the northern constellation Cepheus, about 3,000 light-years away (which makes it our cosmic neighbour). The emission nebula itself is also known as Sharpless 171, and the star cluster it contains as Berkeley 59. Stars could still be forming inside the pillars by gravitational collapse but as the pillars are eroded away, any forming stars will ultimately be cut off from their reservoir of star stuff.
It took me a lifetime to post-process this image. I processed the narrowband data and RGB data separately. I split the narrowband image into the R, G, and B channels, and used Pixelmath to create an OIII channel with G+B. In Astropixelprocessor I made an HOO composition. The RGB data were processed in PixInsight. Finally I used Photoshop to blend the HOO image into the RGB Data.
I hope you enjoy this image. Please feel free to comment below.
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