This is a 140° panorama of the northernmost section of the Milky Way, from Auriga at left to Aquila at right. Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Cygnus are across the centre. This northern section of the Milky Way stretches high across the sky on autumn nights as seen from the northern hemisphere, as it was this night, October 30, 2021. The Milky Way is laced with many dark lanes of interstellar dust which extend off the main band of the Milky Way, as at centre. The dust colours the Milky Way and sky with a yellow-brown tint. Punctuating the Milky Way are red and magenta emission nebulas, the most prominent being the North America Nebula in Cygnus (right of centre) and the California Nebula (at far left) in Perseus. At right are the three stars of the Summer Triangle (R to L: Altair, Vega and Deneb); at left is Capella in Auriga. At centre is the W of stars of Cassiopeia. This is a stitch of 4 segments, each a stack of 8 x 4-minute expsures at ISO 800 with the Canon Ra and with the RF 28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8. It was on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. Another panorama of 4 segments taken through a Kase StarGlow filter and layered in added the glows on the bright stars. All stacking, stitching and alignment was in Photoshop. Taken from home on a very clear night October 30, 2021. A bright Kp 6 to 7 aurora was forecast for this night but never materialized. Bands of reddish airglow drifted through the fields during the exposures but the stacking and averaging helped smooth out the discolouration.
This is a 140° panorama of the northernmost section of the Milky Way, from Auriga at left to Aquila at right. Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Cygnus are across the centre. I added in labels on the mosaic for the constellations, and major nebulas and star clusters. Surrounding the panorama is a collage of close-up images of the major emission nebulas (and one dark nebula) pointing to the area in the wide-field mosaic. The close-ups were shot with various astrographic telescopes such as the William Optics RedCat 51mm and Sharpstar 61, 76 and 94mm refractors, usually employing filters such as the Optolong L-eNhance and IDAS NBX. The background panorama was shot on October 30, 2021, but the close-ups were shot on various nights over two years from 2019 to 2021. The panorama is a stitch of 4 segments, each a stack of 8 x 4-minute expsures at ISO 800 with the Canon Ra and with the RF 28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8. It was on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. Another panorama of 4 segments taken through a Kase StarGlow filter and layered in added the glows on the bright stars.
This is a wide shot encompassing most of the constellation of Cygnus the Swan in the northern summer sky, showing the variety of colours in the starclouds and nebulas that populate this section of the Milky Way. The colours are brought out by the long exposure used and by contrast enhancements in processing. But yes, they are real! This is not false colour. The red and pink emission nebulas of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), at left, and the Butterfly Nebula (IC 1318), at centre, dominate. The small red patch at right in the Tulip Nebula, Sh2-101. But the starclouds themselves go from being bluish at left, to more neutral at centre where the main Cygnus Starcloud shines brightest, to yellowish at right in southern Cygnus and northern Aquila, where obscuring dust tints the starlight a warm tone. Other nebulas in this view include the tiny (at this scale) and purple Cocoon Nebula (IC 5146) at far lower left at the end of the B168 dark lane, and the magenta arcs of the Veil Nebula complex (NGC 6992-5 and NGC 6960) at bottom centre. Numerous large star clusters show up, notably NGC 6940 and smaller NGC 6885 to the right of the Veil. NGC 6811 (centre top) and NGC 6819 (to the right) are at top. The yellowish dust-obscured clusters at centre may be Bica 1 and 2. The field is laced with dark nebulas, as this is the area where the Great Rift begins in the Milky Way, formed from dust lanes that split the visible Milky Way.. The most prominent dark nebula is the Funnel Cloud Nebula, aka Le Gentil 3, at left, and the Northern Coal Sack beside and framing the North America Nebula. Deneb is left of centre; at centre is Gamma Cygni, aka Sadr. Albireo is at far right, above centre. This is a stack of 22 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 50mm and f/2.8 on the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 3200, and on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. I shot 24 frames and only 2 were slightly trailed and were not used. The lens had a URTH Night filter on it to reduce light pollution and airglow discolouration. Taken from home October 1, 2021 on a night with some loss of transparency due to haze. Nebulosity was brought out with the aid of luminosity and colour range masks created with Lumenzia. All stacking, alignment and blending in Photoshop.
