The Cocoon Nebula

[crimbfighter]

The Cocoon Nebula! Imaged from my Bortle 5/6 back yard over the last two nights, the Cacoon Nebula is both a reflection and emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. This nebula sits 4000 light years from Earth and is 15 light years across. I thought the faint red color visible in some areas of the background was an artifact from image processing, but it turns out to be stray hydrogen gas that seems abundant in the area. Coming in from the left side of the frame is the dark nebulocity, leading right to the Cocoon.

-Celestron AVX mount
-Astro-Tech AT130EDT 130mm f/7 telescope with a 0.8x reducer, making it a 728mm focal length, f/5.6 scope.
-ZWO ASI2600MC Pro cooled camera
-ZWO EAF focuser
-Optolong L-Extreme dual narrowband filter
-Pegasus Astro Mini Powerbox
-Orion 60mm guide scope
-Orion Starshoot autoguider
-Controlled with a MeLE Quieter3Q mini PC running Windows

Software
-Sequence Generator Pro for acquisition
-PixInsight and Photoshop for image processing
-PHD2 guiding software

-combination of 180sec and 60sec subexposures
-calibrated with 15 each darks, flats, and dark flats
-Total integration time of 8.5hrs, my longest integration yet

The imaging setup for reference

 

[Jeff15]

Yet another amazing shot...

 

[jeffashman]

Nice shot! Captured light from the dawn of the Sumer and Egyptian civilizations.

 

[slat]

Wonderful. image.

 

[crimbfighter]

Yet another amazing shot...

Thank you!

Nice shot! Captured light from the dawn of the Sumer and Egyptian civilizations.

It's always fascinating just how what we see today is a window into the past.

Wonderful. image.

Thanks!

 

[otherprof]

The Cocoon Nebula! Imaged from my Bortle 5/6 back yard over the last two nights, the Cacoon Nebula is both a reflection and emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. This nebula sits 4000 light years from Earth and is 15 light years across. I thought the faint red color visible in some areas of the background was an artifact from image processing, but it turns out to be stray hydrogen gas that seems abundant in the area. Coming in from the left side of the frame is the dark nebulocity, leading right to the Cocoon.

-Celestron AVX mount
-Astro-Tech AT130EDT 130mm f/7 telescope with a 0.8x reducer, making it a 728mm focal length, f/5.6 scope.
-ZWO ASI2600MC Pro cooled camera
-ZWO EAF focuser
-Optolong L-Extreme dual narrowband filter
-Pegasus Astro Mini Powerbox
-Orion 60mm guide scope
-Orion Starshoot autoguider
-Controlled with a MeLE Quieter3Q mini PC running Windows

Software
-Sequence Generator Pro for acquisition
-PixInsight and Photoshop for image processing
-PHD2 guiding software

-combination of 180sec and 60sec subexposures
-calibrated with 15 each darks, flats, and dark flats
-Total integration time of 8.5hrs, my longest integration yet

View attachment 268262

The imaging setup for reference
View attachment 268263

Awesome!

 

[terri]

Gorgeous! 8.5 hours - a long processing time, or integration time as you're calling it - time well spent, this is a fantastic shot.

You're on a roll!

 

[crimbfighter]

Awesome!

Thanks!

Gorgeous! 8.5 hours - a long processing time, or integration time as you're calling it - time well spent, this is a fantastic shot.

You're on a roll!

The 8.5 hours of integration time is actually the total exposure time. It's equivalent to an 8.5hr single exposure. Processing the image probably took me an hour.