The Crescent Nebula
(Click on Picture for larger view)
Click on image for larger view
Added September 26, 2019 ...
The Crescent Nebula ... (NGC 6888)
I took this image on the night of Thursday, September 26, 2019. This is a collection of 60 frames at 120 seconds each for a total of a 2-hour exposure. The "Seeing" conditions were not very good with the temperature in the lower 80s, there was a bit of a haze in the atmosphere.
This nebula (also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5,000 light-years away from Earth. The nebulosity is the result of the outflow from the stellar winds of two stars very near each other forming two shock waves, one moving outward with the other moving inward. This is nearly impossible to see without a proper Ultra High Contrast filter on the telescope and time-lapse photography. I use the new Altair QuadBand filter to help enhance the nebulosity. Notice the red nebulosity to the upper right and a little bit to the lower left. This is a section of the sky which is a portion of the Milky Way, hence the vast number of stars.
The Techy Stuff: (For those who want to know)
Telescope: Orion ED80T CF Triplet Apochromatic Refractor
Camera: Altair Hypercam 294c Pro TEC
Filter: Altair QuadBand OSC CCD 2" Narrow Band
Camera Settings: 60 seconds at gain of 20,000 ... temp: 23F (-5C)
Capture Software: SharpCap Pro v3.2.6054 64 bit
Mount: Celestron AVX
Mount Control: Celestron PWI v2.2.3
Subframes: 60
Darks: 30
Bias: 30
Flats: None
Guide Scope: Orion Magnificant Mini Autoguider
Guiding Software: PHD 2
Polar Alignment: QHY Pole Master
Stacking: Deep Sky Staker v4.2.2 64 bit
Post Procession: PixInsight & PhotoShop CC
Bortle Light Pollution zone: 4.5
Seeing Conditions: 7 (out of 10)
Temperature: 82F (27.7C), Dew Point 72F (22.2C)
Location: My Heavenly Garden Backyard, Savannah, GA
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