Cygnus

Sh2-91 supernova remnant in Cygnus

October 9, 2023 JakubK

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In my previous project, where I created a mosaic of the Cygnus constellation, I discovered a faint supernova remnant near the star Albireo. Recognizing the significance of this finding, I committed to giving this celestial object more attention. I directed my Askar ACL telescope to these coordinates and gathered additional data over several hours.

Sh2-91, also identified as LBN 147, is a supernova remnant situated close to Albireo. Unlike its more well-known visual neighbor, the Veil Nebula, Sh2-91 is infrequently captured in deep-space photography. According to available literature, this nebula spans 230 light-years in diameter and is approximately 20 thousand years old.

Aware of the complexity of this target, I understood that an extensive integration time was necessary to highlight its intricate structures. Hence, I dedicated seven clear nights to capturing data for this deep-space object, accumulating nearly 14 hours of valuable data.

Telescope	Askar ACL 200 F4
Aperture	50 mm
Focal length	200 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 178MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 6200MC @-10°C
Filters	Antlia ALP-T Dualband 5nm
Exposure	167x300s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2023-09-15 2023-09-17 2023-09-19 2023-10-04 2023-10-06 2023-10-07 2023-10-08

September 20, 2023 JakubK

Constellation

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Albireo Aljanah Antlia ALP-T Dualband 5nm Askar ACL200 Constellation Crescent nebula Cygnus Cygnus Star Cloud Deneb Fawaris LBN 147 North America Nebula Pelican nebula Rainbow Astro RST135 Sadr Sadr Region Swan Veil nebula

Cygnus is a prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere’s summer and autumn skies. Known as the “Swan,” it is easily recognizable due to its distinctive shape, which some people interpret as a flying bird with outstretched wings. In Greek mythology, Cygnus is often associated with the story of Zeus and the transformation of his lover, the beautiful mortal named Leda, into a swan.

The constellation Cygnus is home to several interesting celestial objects. One of the most famous is the Northern Cross, a prominent asterism formed by the brightest stars in the constellation. Deneb (upper right corner), is the brightest star in Cygnus.

In addition to stars, Cygnus contains various deep-sky objects. The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) are two emission nebulae located in the region of Deneb. These nebulae are often photographed due to their striking shapes, resembling the continent of North America and a pelican, respectively. Moreover, two supernova remnants can be found in this constellation. The Veil Nebula (upper left) knows probably every amateur astrophotographer, but to find out that there is another remnant called LNB 147 (lower left) was a surprise for me. This one deserves more attention, and if the weather allows, I will try to capture more light coming from there.

Cygnus is also traversed by the Milky Way, making it a rich region for observing star clusters, nebulae, and other deep-sky wonders. Overall, the constellation Cygnus holds a special place in both mythology and astronomy, offering stargazers a captivating celestial experience.

The pictures are a mosaic of 3×4 frames. In total, I captured 342 frames, each 5 minutes long (integration time 28 hours 30 minutes), which were taken during 10 nights in August and September. This makes it my biggest astrophotography project so far.

Telescope	Askar ACL 200 F4
Aperture	50 mm
Focal length	200 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 178MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 6200MC @-10°C
Filters	Antlia ALP-T Dualband 5nm
Exposure	342x300s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2023-09-12 2023-09-15 2023-09-05 2023-09-06 2023-08-23 2023-08-24 2023-08-16 2023-08-21 2023-08-22 2023-08-11 2023-08-22 2023-08-23

NGC 6888 Crescent nebula

September 6, 2022 JakubK

H II nebula

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Antlia 3 nm Crescent nebula Cygnus DSO HII region HOO Narrow band Nebula NGC 6888 NGC6888 Rainbow Astro RST135 Sharpstar 94EDPH SHO ZWO ASI 2600MM

The Crescent nebula is an HII region in the constellation Cygnus. I photographed this deep-space object before with a relatively long focal length. The Crescent nebula is not the only nebula in the constellation Cygnus. In fact, this constellation is overpopulated with either emission or planetary nebulae. This is the reason why I picked a shorter focal length than before (wider field of view), positioned the Crescent nebula in the corner of the CMOS chip, and let the photos be collected for 3 subsequent nights. In total, I exposed 153 photos, each 5 minutes long. This means nearly 13 hours of integration time, which makes it one of the longest total exposure I spent on a single deep-space image.

Hubble palette image (SHO):

Bi-color image (HOO):

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia Ha, OIII, SII 3 nm
Exposure	153x300s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date	2022-09-06

NGC7000 North America Nebula

August 26, 2022 JakubK

H II nebula

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Cygnus DSO Emission nebula HII region Nebula NGC7000 North America Nebula Rainbow Astro RST135 Sharpstar 94EDPH ZWO ASI 2600MM

I am back from a very intensive trip to Namibia. The report is still pending because I post-processed the data the whole summer. Please stay tuned. Anyway, a few days in August was nice weather, so I took the SharpStar 94 EPDH telescope and pointed into the constellation Cygnus. There are many deep-space objects in this constellation because it is on the galactic plane. Probably the brightest and the most spectacular is North Americal Nebula, sometimes called the Cygnus wall. Since I live in a light-polluted area, I used narrow-band filters to create this image, which is a combination of Hydrogen-alpha (Ha) in the green channel, oxygen III (OIII) in the blue channel, and sulfur II (SII) in the red channel.

And here is a simplified bi-color variant (red – Ha, green OIII, blue OIII):

Telescope	Sharpstar 94EDPH
Aperture	94 mm
Focal length	414 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
Camera	ZWO 2600MM @-10°C
Corrector	F4.4 Quad Reducer
Filters	Antlia Ha, OIII, SII 3 nm
Exposure	96x300s, Gain 100, bin 1x1,
Date	2022-08-26

Cygnus

July 10, 2021 JakubK

Asterism Dark Nebula H II nebula Milky Way Reflection nebula Supernova remnant

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Askar FMA180 f4.5 Canon EOS 6D Crete Cygnus Deneb DSO iOptron Skyguider Pro NGC6960 NGC7000 North America Nebula Sadr Sadr Region Samyang 24 mm f1.4 Sigma 50 mm f1.4 Art Swan Veil nebula

I went to Crete without a detailed plan on which deep space objects to capture. The primary target was Rho Ophiuchi, which I captured really well. Then I started to think about the next objects. Obviously, if you are in a dark place, you can point your camera nearly anywhere. However, there are some regions full of stars and deep space objects. For example constellation Cygnus, which is sometimes called the Northern Cross. It is located visually on the plane of the Milky Way galactic disk, therefore there are many deep space objects.

Let’s have a look at a wide-field picture captured by a 24 mm lens attached to Canon EOS 6Da:

Let’s zoom a bit by changing the lens to a 50 mm focal length. Here the constellation is perfectly centered:

Let’s zoom further to the central star Sadr by change of the lens to 180 mm focal length:

Let’s keep the focal length 180 mm and let’s have a look at the left star Deneb and very famous North America nebula:

Again, let’s keep the focal length 180 mm and change to perspective to the bottom (eastern) star Aljanah, where the beautiful supernova remnant the Veil nebula is located:

In total, the camera collected 15.5 hours of light and I am happy with the result.

IC 1318 Sadr Region

September 11, 2020 JakubK

H II nebula

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Butterfly nebula Cygnus DSO IC1318 Kythira MaxField coma corrector Nebula Newton 150/600 Rainbow Astro RST135 Sadr Region ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Sadr Region, sometimes called The Gamma Cygni Nebula is a giant cloud of ionized hydrogen, located in the constellation Cygnus (Swan). The picture shows only a part of the whole complex. In order to capture the whole nebula, I would need a telescope with a much shorter focal length of the much bigger sensor of the camera. This is actually my second attempt. The first one from Milos Island was quite nice, but this time I dedicated a significantly longer time for this deep space object. Specifically, the picture is an integration of 405 minutes, which means nearly 7 hours in total.

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	570 mm
Mount	Rainbow Astro RST 135
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-0°C
Corrector	TS MaxField
Filters	No
Exposure	135x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2020-09-11

NGC6888 Crescent Nebula

August 20, 2020 JakubK

H II nebula

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Crescent nebula Cygnus DSO Gemini gf53 IDAS NB1 Nebula Filter MaxField coma corrector Nebula Newton 254/1000 NGC6888 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Another cloudless night and I decided to test the IDAS NB1 filter again This time on Crescent Nebula, located in constellation Cygnus. The nebulosity was captured well and it’s comparable to the narrowband image I captured a long time ago. However, the bright stars are surrounded by ugly reflections. I am not sure it’s due to the MaxField coma corrector or the filter. Next time I will try with ExploreScientific coma corrector and we will see.

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-5°C
Corrector	MaxField coma corrector
Filters	IDAS NB1 Nebula Filter
Exposure	103x180s, Gain 95, bin 1x1,
Date	2020-08-20

NGC7000 North America Nebula

August 10, 2020 JakubK

H II nebula

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Cygnus DSO Gemini gf53 HII region IDAS NB1 Nebula Filter Nebula Newton 254/1000 NGC7000 North America Nebula TS MaxField coma corrector ZWO ASI071MC Pro

After capturing the Eagle Nebula, I was searching for another nebula to test the new IDAS NB1 filter and I picked NGC7000 North America Nebula, switched on autoguiding, and went to sleep. The next morning I processed 138 pictures, each 3 minutes long. Well, I must say that this filter is a very good option for astrophotography in light-polluted locations.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-5°C
Corrector	MaxField coma corrector
Filters	IDAS NB1 Nebula Filter
Exposure	138x180s, Gain 95, bin 1x1,
Date	2020-08-10

M39 Open cluster

November 18, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

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Cluster Cygnus DSO Gemini gf53 M39 Messier39 Newton 254/1000 Open cluster TS MaxField coma corrector ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Messier 39 is an open cluster located in constellation Cygnus and it’s only 825 light-year away from Eartch. The cluster is visually located on the galactic plane of the Milky Way, therefore there are so many stars in the background.

I already captured M39 two years ago, but with different camera and different coma corrector. This time I used slightly bigger sensor and brand new corrector TS MaxField. This corrector should reduce the focal length by 5% and also due to the larger sensor I got bigger field of view compared to my previous picture. However, the corrector is not capable of eliminate the coma fully and in the corners are the stars elongated. I spent some time by adjusting the tilt, but this obviously didn’t solve the problem. This means that the only corrector which is capable of eliminating the comatic aberration fully is Explore Scientific HR CC.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 254/1000 mm
Aperture	254 mm
Focal length	950 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-20°C
Corrector	TS-Optics 2" 3-element MaxField
Filters	Hutech IDAS LPS-D2
Exposure	58x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-11-18

Here is the analysis of the curvature by CCD Inspector. I already adjusted the tilt by integrated push-pull screws on ASI071, but there is still some room for improvements.

NGC6871 Open Cluster

September 15, 2018 JakubK

Open cluster

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Cluster Cygnus DSO Explore scientific coma corrector iOptron CEM25P Milky Way Milos Newton 150/600 NGC6871 Open cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC6871 is an open cluster located in Cygnus, has less than 50 stars and it is 5135 light-years from Earth. Constellation Cygnus is visually located on the galactic disk of the Milky Way; therefore there are many stars in the background. Particularly interesting are the dark nebulae, surrounding the cluster.

Picture was taken under dark skies of Milos Island and in total, it’s an integration of on 63 minutes.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	21x180s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-15

IC5146 Cocoon Nebula

September 13, 2018 JakubK

Dark Nebula H II nebula

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Barnard 168 Barnard168 Cocoon Nebula Cygnus DSO Explore scientific coma corrector IC5146 iOptron CEM25P Milos Nebula Newton 150/600 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

IC5146, sometimes called Cocoon Nebula, is an emissive nebula located in constellation Cygnus. Central star in the nebula is responsible for the excitation of the surrounding hydrogen gas. On the picture is also captured dark nebula Barnard 168, which creates the strip and it looks like the Cocoon Nebula has a tail.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	43x300s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-13

NGC6946 Fireworks Galaxy, NGC6939 Ghost Bush Cluster

September 10, 2018 JakubK

Galaxy

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Cepheus Cluster Cygnus DSO Explore scientific coma corrector Fireworks Galaxy Galaxy Ghost Bush Cluster iOptron CEM25P Milos Newton 150/600 NGC6939 NGC6946 Open cluster ZWO ASI071MC Pro

NGC 6946, sometimes called Fireworks Galaxy, is a beautiful spiral galaxy located between constellations Cepheus and Cygnus. It is approximately 22.5 million light-years away from Earth and it’s a part of Virgo Supercluster of galaxies. The name didn’t get from the shape, but due to frequent explosions of supernovae.

Next to the galaxy is located NGC6939 Ghost Bush Cluster, which is a part of our own Galaxy, therefore the distance from earth is “only” 4000 light-years.

The picture is the last one from the day. I slewed to target, switched on auto guiding and went to sleep. Therefore the picture is an integration of 73 photos, each 5 minutes long, i.e. 6 hours of total time. This is probably the picture with the longest integration time from Milos.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	73x300s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-10

NGC7000 North America Nebula

September 9, 2018 JakubK

H II nebula

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Cygnus DSO Explore scientific coma corrector iOptron CEM25P Milos Newton 150/600 NGC7000 North America Nebula ZWO ASI071MC Pro

North America nebula, also called NGC 7000, is a giant cloud of ionize hydrogen gas – HII region, located in constellation Cygnus. The shape reminds contour of the North America continent, specifically the eastern cost between Golf of Mexico and Florida. Visually, the nebula is big and it didn’t fit in my telescope/camera field of view. NGC 7000 together with Pelican nebula create a nebulae pair, which is approximately 2000 light-years from Earth.

The picture demonstrates how low light pollution on Milos Island is. The picture is an integration of only 27 pictures, exposure 3 minute each, i.e. 81 minutes in total. It’s impressive – no narrow band filters were used.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	27x180s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-09

NGC 6888 Crescent Nebula

September 6, 2018 JakubK

H II nebula

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Crescent nebula Cygnus DSO Explore scientific coma corrector H II nebula iOptron CEM25P Milky Way Milos Nebula Newton 150/600 NGC6888 ZWO ASI071MC Pro

Crescent Nebula, also known as NGC 6888, is a HII region, hot ionized hydrogen gas cloud. The nebula got the shape by high speed stellar wind of Wolf-Rayet star, which is colliding with slow moving mass, ejected by this star during transformation into a red giant. The nebula is approximately 5000 light-years away from us and it can be located in constellation Cygnus.

The picture is the last one from 6.9.2018. In the evening I captured Omega nebula, M80. As a last deep space object I pointed on Crescent Nebula, started auto guiding and went to sleep. Therefore the picture is a stack of 64 pictures; each has 3 minutes of exposure time, thus total integration time 192 minutes.

Technical details:

Telescope	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture	150 mm
Focal length	660 mm
Mount	iOptron CEM25P
Autoguiding	QHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
Camera	ZWO 071 Pro @-10C
Corrector	Explore Scientific HR coma corrector
Filters	Astronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure	64x180s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date	2018-09-06

NGC6960 Veil nebula

November 9, 2015 JakubK

Supernova remnant

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ASA 0.73 reducer Cygnus DSO Gemini gf53 MII G2 8300 Nebula Newton 150/600 NGC6960 Supernova remnant Veil nebula

For the third time I am trying to capture the whole Veil nebula, but again, there is a part missing. This time I used the smallest telescope, I have at home – newton 150/600, reduced to focal length 438 mm, by ASA 0.73 reducer. This picture contains the first picture in the left top corner and the second picture in the right bottom corner. Anyway, there is still something missing, therefore next time I have to reduce the focal length even more or do a mosaic.

Telescope:	Newton 150/600 mm
Aperture:	150 mm
Focal length:	438 mm
Mount	Gemini G53f
Autoguiding	ZWO 174MM, TS 60/240 mm
Camera:	Moravian instruments G2 8300M @-30C
Corrector:	ASA 2″ reducer 0.73
Filters:	Baader Ha 7 nm, OIII 8.5 nm SII 8nm
Exposure:	9xHa, 9xOIII, 600 s, bin 1×1
Date:	2015-11-09

AstroFotoBlog

Tag: Cygnus

Sh2-91 supernova remnant in Cygnus

Cygnus

NGC 6888 Crescent nebula

NGC7000 North America Nebula

Cygnus

IC 1318 Sadr Region

NGC6888 Crescent Nebula

NGC7000 North America Nebula

Technical details:

M39 Open cluster

Technical details:

NGC6871 Open Cluster

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IC5146 Cocoon Nebula

Technical details:

NGC6946 Fireworks Galaxy, NGC6939 Ghost Bush Cluster

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NGC7000 North America Nebula

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NGC 6888 Crescent Nebula

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NGC6960 Veil nebula

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