2016 Nov. 18 ~ The Milky Way in Cygnus & Cepheus

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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

(285 km by road north of Toronto)

* Temperature 11° C.

 

* Total exposure time: 8 minutes.

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Description:

 

High in the northern hemisphere summer and autumn sky our home galaxy, the Milky Way, runs through the constellations Cepheus (left side) and Cygnus (right).

 

This area of the sky is riddled with glowing red clouds of hydrogen gas, numerous star clusters, and areas of dark foreground gas that obscures the light of millions of stars beyond.

 

Above and to the left of centre is the bright circular red gas cloud IC 1396. For a close-up view of this nebula made with a 540 mm focal length telescope later the same evening, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/30787835700

 

One of the most distinctive gas clouds is the aptly named "North America Nebula", just below and a little right of centre. For a close-up view of this nebula made with a 300 mm lens, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/29220929561

 

For a version of this photo WITH labels, click on the right side of your screen, or click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/30348287793

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Technical information:

 

Sigma 50 mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART lens on Nikon D810a camera body, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO equatorial mount with a Kirk Enterprises ball head

 

Eight stacked frames; each frame:

50 mm focal length

ISO 2500; 1 minute exposure at f/4; unguided

(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)

 

Subframes registered in RegiStar;

Stacked and processed in Photoshop CS6 (brightness, contrast, levels, colour balance, colour desaturation)

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Done