A portrait of the complex of emission nebulas in central Cygnus near the bright star Gamma Cygni (at left). The field includes the IC 1318 complex around Gamma Cygni itself and the Wolf-Rayet arc of nebulosity, NGC 6888, aka the Crescent Nebula, at right. The sparse star cluster Messier 29 is at bottom. This was through the SharpStar 94mm apo refractor at f/4.4 and with the Canon EOS Ra. It is a blend of 6 x 6-minute exposures at ISO 1600 through an Astronomik UV-IR-Cut filter for the base image, and a stack of 4 x 12-minutes at ISO 3200 through IDAS NB1 and Optolong L-eNhance filters for the enhanced red nebulosity, plus 6 x 12-minutes at ISO 3200 through Optolong L-eXtreme and IDAS NBZ filters which contribute only the enhanced cyan OIII emission, all taken as part of testing the filters. Normally, using four filters would not be required! Autoguided and dithered on this warm summer night with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider. No darks or LENR applied as the dithering effectively eliminated the thermal noise speckling which was prominent on the individual sub-frames. Taken from home August 13, 2021. All stacked, aligned, and blended in Photoshop.
Gamma Velorum (aka Suhail al Muhlif) in Vela and the open cluster NGC 2547, a bright binocular cluster. The field is also rich in faint nebulosity from the Gum Nebula. The field simulates a binocular field. A stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures with the 20mm telephoto at f/2.8 and Canon 5D MkII at ISO 2500. Tracked on the AP 400 mount. Shot from Coonabarabran, Australia.
A framing of the northern winter sky constellation of Gemini. the Twins The Messier star cluster M35 is at right,, along with the emission nebulas IC 443 and NGC 2174. The twin stars of Castor (top) and Pollux are at left, but showing their colour difference here. The Milky Way runs down the right side of the frame making this area much brighter and richer than the sky at left. This is a stack of 16 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 61mm and f/2.8 and on the filter-modified Canon Ra camera at ISO 800, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Star glows added by layering in a separate 2-minute exposure taken through a Kase/Alyn Wallace StarGlow filter. Taken from home March 17, 2023.
