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IC 5146 - The Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus
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Copyright 2008 Hap Griffin
IC 5146, known as the Cocoon Nebula, is a beautiful region of hydrogen gas both reflecting the light (the blue regions) and being driven to glowing emission (the red regions) by the bright central star BD +46°3474. The remaining dimmer stars within the nebula are stars of similar mass as our sun that have formed within but are much younger.
IC 5146 lies at a distance of 3900 light-years.
Date/Location:
August 1, 2008 Griffin-Hunter Observatory near Bethune, SC
Instrument: Canon 40D Digital SLR (modified) through
Orion 10" Newtonian w/ Baader MPCC
Focal Ratio: F/4.7
Guiding: Auto via SBIG ST-402 through Takahashi FS-102NSV
Refractor
Conditions: Warm and humid
Weather: 75 F
Exposure: 225 minutes total (45 x 5 minutes @ ISO 800)
Filters: Baader UV/IR block filter
internal to camera
Processing: Calibration, auto-alignment, stacking, Digital
Development in
ImagesPlus 3.50a . Finished in Photoshop CS3.