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Central Cygnus Nebulosity (Draco62 RMod).jpg
This frames the very rich and complex region of emission nebulas in central Cygnus near the star Gamma Cygni, or Sadr, at lower left. What forces shape the swirl of gas clouds here? — Interstellar winds? Magnetic fields? This field lies in our Cygnus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Around Sadr at lower left is the bright complex known as the Butterfly Nebula, or IC 1318, a region of nebulas intersected by dark lanes of dust. At centre is the bright arc of the Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888, a bubble of hot gas blown by a hot Wolf-Rayet star at its centre. Another paler Wolf-Rayet bubble is at right, WR 134. Both Wolf-Rayet bubbles have a lot of cyan Oxygen-III emission, contrasting with the dominant pinkish-red H-alpha light from the rest of the nebulas.
At top right, partly lost amid the background nebulosity, and in what looks like a conical dark shadow, is the flower-like Tulip Nebula, Sharpless 2-101. At bottom centre is the small, round and unnamed Sh2-104. The large area of nebulosity to the right of Sadr is catalogued as Sh2-108. The sharp-edged narrow dark nebula at top is Barnard 145. The dark conical area at upper right is Barnard 144, aka Lynds Dark Nebula 862.
There are several minor star clusters scattered through the field: At top left Collinder 419; at bottom left the sparse Messier 29; below centre the more distinctive IC 4996; to the left of Sadr is NGC 6910; and at upper right the loose NGC 6871.
The field is about 8.2° by 5.5°, so about what binoculars would take it. But it takes long exposures and specialized filters to bring out the vast array of glowing gas clouds here.
Technical:
This is a blend of stacked exposures taken in normal "white light" with no filters, and exposures through a dual narrowband filter that transmits only the red light of hydrogen atoms and the green-cyan light of oxygen atoms, the primary components of such nebulas.
The stack consists of:
- 16 x 8 minutes at ISO 3200 through an IDAS NBX filter, in exposures over tw
Around Sadr at lower left is the bright complex known as the Butterfly Nebula, or IC 1318, a region of nebulas intersected by dark lanes of dust. At centre is the bright arc of the Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888, a bubble of hot gas blown by a hot Wolf-Rayet star at its centre. Another paler Wolf-Rayet bubble is at right, WR 134. Both Wolf-Rayet bubbles have a lot of cyan Oxygen-III emission, contrasting with the dominant pinkish-red H-alpha light from the rest of the nebulas.
At top right, partly lost amid the background nebulosity, and in what looks like a conical dark shadow, is the flower-like Tulip Nebula, Sharpless 2-101. At bottom centre is the small, round and unnamed Sh2-104. The large area of nebulosity to the right of Sadr is catalogued as Sh2-108. The sharp-edged narrow dark nebula at top is Barnard 145. The dark conical area at upper right is Barnard 144, aka Lynds Dark Nebula 862.
There are several minor star clusters scattered through the field: At top left Collinder 419; at bottom left the sparse Messier 29; below centre the more distinctive IC 4996; to the left of Sadr is NGC 6910; and at upper right the loose NGC 6871.
The field is about 8.2° by 5.5°, so about what binoculars would take it. But it takes long exposures and specialized filters to bring out the vast array of glowing gas clouds here.
Technical:
This is a blend of stacked exposures taken in normal "white light" with no filters, and exposures through a dual narrowband filter that transmits only the red light of hydrogen atoms and the green-cyan light of oxygen atoms, the primary components of such nebulas.
The stack consists of:
- 16 x 8 minutes at ISO 3200 through an IDAS NBX filter, in exposures over tw
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- © Alan Dyer/AmazingSky.com
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- NGC/IC Objects, My Portfolio, My Latest, Nebulas
