2019 Aug. 1 ~ The North America & Pelican Nebulae in Cygnus

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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, between 03.00 and 03.22 EDT

(285 km by road north of Toronto)

* Temperature 15° C.

* Altitude of the nebulae at time of exposures: 83°, declining to 77°

 

* Total exposure time: 11 minutes

* 660 mm focal length telescope

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Description:

 

Visually with the unaided eye, or in binoculars or a telescope, the distinctively-shaped North America Nebula, and the Pelican Nebula to the right in this view, appear as faint white clouds in the northern constellation Cygnus (the Swan) in the middle of our Milky Way galaxy. Long exposures with a digital camera sensor reveal the red glow of hydrogen gas, however, especially with Nikon's red sensitive D810a astrophotography camera.

 

If the ionization causing these gas clouds to glow is caused by the bright star Deneb (out of view to the upper right of the frame), the the distance to the nebulae is about 1,800 light years.

 

For a wider angle view of this region made with a 200 mm focal length lens on the same evening, click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/48561243172

 

... and for a version of this image with labels, click on the RIGHT side of your screen, or click here:

www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/48583730797

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Technical information:

 

Nikon D810a camera body on Tele Vue NP127is 127mm (5") apochromatic astrograph, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO equatorial mount

 

Eleven stacked frames; each frame:

660 mm focal length

ISO 6400; 1 minute exposure at f/5.2; unguided

(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)

 

Subframes registered in RegiStar;

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

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Done