This is a framing of the rich complex of nebulosity in and around the constellation of Cygnus, in a blend of "white light" images and images shot through a deep red hydrogen-alpha filter that isolates the red emission line from the gas clouds, bringing them out in much more detail than is otherwise possible. The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and adjacent Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) are at upper left beside blue Deneb. The Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant, and catalogued as NGC 6995 and NGC 6960 for the main arcs, is at lower left. The Gamma Cygni complex, IC 1318, is at centre. However, the field is littered with other faint arcs and patches of emission nebulosity. The dark area below Deneb is the Northern Coal Sack. The bright area at lower right in the Milky Way is the Cygnus Starcloud, a region less obscured by dark interstellar dust. The "beak" star of Cygnus, Albireo, is at lower right, so the framing takes in most of Cygnus and all of the Northern Cross asterism. This is a blend of: a stack of 20 x 5-minute exposures at f/2 and ISO 3200 with the Canon Ra equipped with a clip-in Asrtronomik 12nm H-alpha filter, plus a stack of 25 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, with the latter shot through a front-mounted URTH broadband filter to help block skyglow and gradients. All with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 70mm and on the Star Adventurer tracker for tracked but unguided shots taken from home October 1, 2022 on a very clear and mild night for a total of 150 minutes of exposure. The initial H-alpha shots were taken with the waxing crecent Moon still up. All stacking, alignment and blending in Photoshop. Luminosity masks applied with Lumenzia. The H-alpha stack was layered in with a Screen blend mode and with its own adjustment layers and masks, and colorized with a Hue-Saturation layer. The H-alpha data was not added by replacing the red channel, as that provides no control of the blend of the H-alpha image. A mild and masked Orton Glow effect added with Luminar AI.
A framing of the major areas of bright and dark nebulosity in Cygnus, showing pink emission nebulas contrasting with dark dusty regions in the Cygnus arm of the Milky Way. The main area of the bright Cygnus Starcloud is at upper right. The bright blue star Deneb is above centre. Just below it and left of centre is the North America Nebula, NGC 7000, and its adjacent companion Pelican Nebula, IC 5070. The Gamma Cygni nebulosity complex, IC 1318, is right of centre. The Veil Nebula supernova remnant, NGC 6960 and 6992-5, is at lower right. The small Cocoon Nebula, IC 5146, is at lower left. The Tulip Nebula, Sh2-101, is at upper right. Two obvious star clusters flank the scene: NGC 7209 in the lower left corner, and NGC 6940 in the lower right corner. The dark nebula Le Gentil 3, aka the Funnel Cloud Nebula, is at upper left. The dark Northern Coal Sack area is at centre. At top is the colourful "Patriotic Triple" stars of Omicron 1 and 2 Cygni. This is a stack of 8 x 4-minute exposures with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 70mm and f/2.8, on the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 1600. The lens was equipped with the 95mm URTH Night light pollution rejecton filter to help enhance the nebulosity. I shot this from home August 5, 2022 on a very fine dark transparent night with the field straight overhead. The camera was on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. I rejected about half the frames and used only the best 8 that had no trailing. That was enough to average our the satellites that appeared on some frames. All stacking and processing done in Photoshop. Curves and color grading applied in part using luminosity masks generated with TK8 Actions and Lumenzia. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar AI.
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.
