North American and Pelican Nebulae, Widefield Mosaic
All Images Copyright Steve
Cannistra
Note:
Higher resolution files are large- please allow full download before
viewing.
Please
click here
or on image for a higher resolution view.
Please
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for the highest resolution view.
Characteristics:
Magnitude: 8.0
Size: About 2 x 3 degrees for this two frame mosaic.
Distance: ?
RA: 20h 50m 57s
Dec: 44 degrees 21' 52"
Description:
The region around NGC 7000 in Cygnus
is a favorite target for widefield astrophotography in Ha light.
The
deep shadows and rifts in this nebula are caused by dust that obscures
visible
light emitted by ionized gas such as hydrogen, oxygen, and
sulfur. This represents a two-frame mosaic using the CM10 camera
in conjuction with the Sky90 at f4.5, resulting in a FOV of about 2 x 3
degrees at an image scale of 3.46 arcsec/pixel. Click on the
links above to view the higher resolution images. Note:
Higher resolution files are large- please allow full download before
viewing.
Photographic Details:
Dates: Taken on two consecutive nights, 6/19/05 and 6/20/05.
Scope: Takahashi
Sky 90 at f4.5 with field flattener/focal reducer, on the G11 Losmandy
Mount.
Autoguider: SBIG STV with
e-finder.
Camera: Maxcam CM10.
Filter: AstroDon Ha
filter (6 nm bandpass).
Exposures (unbinned): Lower half: 20 x 10' each. Upper
half: 16 x 10' each. Total
exposure 6 hours.
Conditions: 6/19/05- average
transparency; good seeing; calm; 6/20/05- good transparency, poor
seeing, full moonlight.
Image
Processing: Calibrated
subs were debloomed with Ron Wodaski's Debloomer software, and then
aligned in Registar. Sigma combined using RC Sigma Reject
MaximDL, followed by DDP
in ImagesPlus (IP). Mosaic
construction, levels, curves, high-pass sharpening in Photoshop CS (16
bit format). The Shadows/Highlights tool in Photoshop CS was
particularly useful for enhancing contrast in this image.
Please
note: Graphics on this website may not be reproduced without
author permission.
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