Gamma Cygni and Surrounding Nebulosity

 

Copyright 2005 Hap Griffin

This is the heart of the constellation of Cygnus, almost directly overhead in the early evenings of October.  The bright star in the middle is Gamma Cygni, the middle star in the asterism in Cygnus called the "Northern Cross".  This star is also known as Sadir and is easily visible to the naked eye on a clear night.  The surrounding nebulosity is part of the much larger hydrogen cloud known as IC 1318.  The two bright parts to the left in this picture have also been given the common name of the "Butterfly Nebula".  Open star cluster NGC 6910 can be seen near the top center.

 

Date/Location:    October 1, 2005     Griffin/Hunter Observatory    Bethune, SC
Instrument:    Canon 350D Digital SLR (modified) through Orion 80mm ED80 APO refractor 
Focal Ratio:   f4.5 w/ Meade 0.6 focal reducer
Guiding:    Auto via SBIG ST-237 through 10" Meade LX-200
Conditions:    Clear with passing clouds
Weather:    70 F
Exposure: 30 minutes total (6 x 5 minutes) @ ISO 800
Filters:    Baader UV/IR Block
Processing:    Focused and captured with DSLRFocus.  RAW to TIFF conversion, frame calibrations, alignment, Digital Development, Adaptive Richardson_Lucy deconvolution, scaling and JPEG conversion with ImagesPlus.  Color correction with Photoshop 6.  Noise reduction with NeatImage.

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