Exploring the Sadr Region: Backyard Astrophotography of Cygnus’ Celestial Wonders

 Lots of celestial goodness in this field ...

On 7/18/2025, I captured this image of the Sadr region in the constellation Cygnus with my wide-field imaging rig.

A wide-field image of the Sadr region in Cygnus captured from my backyard on 7/18/2025.

When processing Astro photos, it is common practice to separate the stars from the image. The stars and the object are then processed separately and recombined at the end. Here is the Starless image used to create the final image above.

A starless version of the image used in processing the data.

What is it? (This section written with AI assistance)

An annotated version of the image.

A few of the Celestial Objects in the image:

Gamma Cygni Nebula (IC 1318)

A sprawling emission complex centered on the bright star Sadr (Gamma Cygni). It spans over a degree of sky and consists of two main lobes of hydrogen-alpha emission, sometimes called the Butterfly Nebula. Dark dust lanes weave through the red glow, tracing regions where cooler material absorbs background light. The Gamma Cygni Nebula belongs to the Cygnus X star-forming complex.

Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888)

Carved by the powerful stellar wind of the Wolf–Rayet star WR 136, this crescent-shaped bubble of ionized hydrogen glows vividly in red. The fast wind has excavated a hollow shell in the surrounding gas, creating sharp arcs and filamentary structures roughly 18 by 12 arcminutes in size.

Propeller Nebula (DWB 111/119)

Nicknamed for its propeller-like appearance, this faint emission and reflection nebula lies just south of the Crescent. Curved dust lanes and pockets of ionized gas form the “blades,” set against a rich Milky Way star field. Also known as Simeiz 57. The Propeller Nebula is also part of the Cygnus-X star forming complex.

Open Star Cluster M29

A compact grouping of about 50 bluish and white stars, M29 sits a few degrees east of Sadr. At roughly 4,000 light-years away and 10 million years old, its hot young stars form a loose “V” or “Y” pattern, contrasting with the surrounding nebular glow.

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Notable Stars and Field Features

• Sadr (Gamma Cygni): Magnitude 2.2 supergiant at the center of IC 1318, the principal illuminating source.
• Field Stars: Hundreds of fainter Milky Way stars pepper the background, highlighting the vast scale of the nebular structures.

How Big is it?

The Gamma Cygni Nebula (IC 1318) has a size of 40 x 20 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 17.5 light years across.

The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) has a size of 20.0 x 10. arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 31.6 light years across.

The Propeller Nebula (DWB 111/119) - I could not size information for this object.

M29 has a size of 10 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 14.6 light years across.

How Far is it?

The Gamma Cygni Nebula (IC 1318) is located about 1,500 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cygnus.

The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) is located about 5,400 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cygnus.

The Propeller Nebula (DWB 111/119) is located about 4,600 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cygnus.

M 29 is located about 5,000 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cygnus.

How to Find it?

M29 can be observed visually. So can NGC 6888 (nebula filters and aperture will help). IC 1318 most likely can be observed visually; a wide field of view and nebula filter will help. The Propeller would be a very difficult visual observation. 

The field of view of the image is shown below. The Star Sadr (Gamma Cygni) is naked eye visible in the Constellation Cygnus.

A finder chart for the image.

Imaging Notes:

Friday July 18^th was forecast to be clear at night. I set up my wide-field imaging rig before dark. Once it was dark enough, I polar aligned, calibrated PHD2, and slew to the target so I could focus the imaging camera and set the imaging camera rotation. Then I took my flat frames and initiated the imaging sequence for the night.

The first sub rolled in at 10:28 PM. The skies were really good, especially early in the night. I went to sleep around 1 AM. The rig kept collecting subs until 4:30 AM. A total of 103 good sub exposures were collected; four frames were discarded prior to processing.

Processing:

All pre and post processing was performed in PixInsight. Pre-Processing: All subs were visually inspected with Blink and subs with issues were removed. All light Frames, Flats, Darks and Dark flats were loaded into WBPP. Linear Post Processing: Background extraction was performed with GraXpert followed by BXT (correct only). SPCC was used for Color Calibration followed by a full application of BXT. The Stars were removed using StarXT. Starless Linear: Noise was reduced with NXT. The image was made non-linear with HT. Linear Stars: The stars were made non-linear with Seti Astro's Star Stretch Script.

Non-linear Post Processing: Starless: The Narrowband normalization process was used to get the "SHO look". Color, intensity, and contrast were adjusted with various applications of CT. Saturation was increased with CT. The Image blend Script was used to sharpen the image with a High Pass Filter. LHE was applied at 2 Kernel sizes and Unsharp mask was applied. CT was used to increase contrast. Stars: Saturation was increased with CT. SCNR was applied and the Correct Magenta Stars Script was used to help with stars captured with a dual narrowband filter. CT was used to adjust contrast one last time. Final: The Stars and Starless images were combined with Pixel Math to produce the final image. 

Image Details:

Capture Date: 7/18/2025

Location: Eden, NY

Telescope: Askar FMA180 Pro

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme

Mount: Sky-Watcher USA EQ6-R Pro

Exposure: 103 exposures for a total exposure of 5 hours and 9 minutes. All exposures were captured at 180 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 50 / -10°C each.

Software: NINA, SharpCap Pro, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie

Wide-Field Cygnus Loop

 8,000 years ago, a star 20 times more massive than our Sun went KABOOM ...

If you said Kaboom in the voice of Marvin the Martian, then we think alike. Trying something new with this blog post. Going to change the order of the content. Let me know what you think. Note: An AI tool was used to help write the text in the "What is it?" section.

On 7/3/2025, I captured this image of the Cygnus Loop from my backyard with my wide-field imaging rig.

A wide-field image of the Cygnus Loop captured from my backyard on 7/3/2025.

When processing Astro photos, it is common practice to separate the stars from the image. The stars and the object are then processed separately and recombined at the end. Here is the Starless image used to create the final image above. 

A starless version of the image used in the processing of this data.

What is it?

An annotated image of the Cygnus Loop.

Western Veil Nebula (NGC 6960 “Witch’s Broom”)

Located at the western edge of the Cygnus Loop, NGC 6960 is a tangle of glowing filaments spanning over a degree of sky. Also called the Witch’s Broom, its curved arc traces shock waves from a supernova that exploded roughly 8,000 years ago, heating and ionizing the interstellar gas. Bright knots and wisps of hydrogen- and oxygen-rich material alternately glow in red and teal, against a field of faint Milky Way stars.

Eastern Veil Nebula (NGC 6992, NGC 6995 & IC 1340)

This section consists of two main filamentary loops—NGC 6992 to the north and NGC 6995 immediately south—plus fainter outlying strands cataloged as IC 1340. The sinuous, lace-like structures mark where fast-moving debris slams into surrounding gas at hundreds of kilometers per second. Vivid filament edges glow in narrowband emissions, revealing intricate curlicues of supernova-heated plasma.

Open Star Cluster NGC 6940

Situated just south of the Eastern Veil, NGC 6940 is a rich grouping of several dozen 8th–10th magnitude stars. At about 2,500 light-years distance, this intermediate-age cluster (≈1 billion years) provides a contrasting backdrop of yellow-white suns set against the nebular filaments. Its loosely bound stars form a gentle arc, adding depth to the wide-field composition.

Foreground and Field Stars

• 52 Cygni: A 4th-magnitude star superimposed on the Western Veil’s arc, lending the Witch’s Broom its bright “handle.”
• 49 Cygni & 48 Cygni: Pair of 5th-magnitude stars near the Eastern Veil, framing the nebular loops.
• Countless fainter Milky Way stars fill the background, emphasizing the vastness of the supernova remnant.

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Together, these objects showcase the aftermath of stellar death alongside ongoing stellar life, framed by a tapestry of stars in the rich Cygnus Milky Way.

How Big is it?

The Cygnus Loop has a size of 3 degrees on the night sky and is about 120 light years across. For comparison, the Sun and the Moon have an angular distance of about 1/2 of a degree. 

The Western Veil Nebula (NGC 6960) has a size of 70 x 6 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 53.1 light years across.

The Eastern Veil Nebula (NGC 6992) has a size of 60 x 30 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 45.5 light years across.

NGC 6940 has a size of 25 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 18.3 light years across.

How Far is it?

The entire Cygnus Loop (including Eastern & Western Veil Nebulae) is located about 2,100 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cygnus.

NGC 6940 is located about 2,500 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cygnus.

How to Find it?

This object can be visually observed. Dark skies are a must. A nebula filter, specifically an Oiii filter are almost required. This is a large object, so a wider field of view will let you see more of the object.

In the Finder Chart below. Find Cygnus the Swan, then locate Gienah (Epsilon Cygni) indicated by the letter "A" and Zeta Cygni indicated by the letter "B". Both stars will form an imaginary triangle with 52 Cygni, indicated by the letter "C". 52 Cygni is the bright star in the Western Veil. 

Finder Chart for the Cygnus Loop

Imaging Notes:

Thursday July 3^rd was forecast to be clear at night. I had a vacation day, extending the Independence Day holiday weekend. A clear night, no work the next day, no question I would be imaging. The 3^rd was one day past 1^st Quarter Moon, so a bright Moon would be up all night. Therefore, I decided to go after the Cygnus Loop with my wide-field setup and dual narrowband filter. I had to wait until nearly midnight for the object to clear the trees to begin the imaging sequence. The first sub came in at 11:46 PM. Subs continued to roll in until 4:14 AM as the skies started to brighten as dawn approached. Overall, an eventful evening. The skies were really good, and the equipment behaved. 

Processing:

All pre and post processing was performed in PixInsight. Pre-Processing: All subs were visually inspected with Blink and subs with issues were removed. All light Frames, Flats, Darks and Dark flats were loaded into WBPP. Linear Post Processing: Background extraction was performed with GraXpert followed by BXT (correct only). SPCC was used for Color Calibration followed by a full application of BXT. The Stars were removed using StarXT. Starless Linear: Noise was reduced with NXT. The image was made non-linear with HT. Linear Stars: The stars were made non-linear with Seti Astro's Star Stretch Script.

Non-linear Post Processing: Starless: Color, intensity, and contrast were adjusted with various applications of CT. Saturation was increased with CT. The Image blend Script was used to sharpen the image with a High Pass Filter. LHE was applied at 2 Kernel sizes and Unsharp mask was applied. CT was used to increase contrast. Stars: Saturation was increased with CT. SCNR was applied and the Correct Magenta Stars Script was used to help with stars captured with a dual narrowband filter. CT was used to adjust contrast one last time. Final: The Stars and Starless images were combined with Pixel Math to produce the final image. 

Image Details:

Capture Date: 7/3/2025

Location: Eden, NY

Telescope: Askar FMA180 Pro

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme

Mount: Sky-Watcher USA EQ6-R Pro

Exposure: 79 exposures for a total exposure of almost 3 hours and 57 minutes. All exposures were captured at 180 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 50 / -10°C each.

Software: NINA, SharpCap Pro, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie

North America Nebula, Pelican Nebula, and Friends in HOO

 Can you find Deadpool's head in the photo ...

Saturday night 6/28 was forecast to be cloudy up until midnight, then clear through dawn. The following night was forecast to be clear all night. Even though the Moon was in a waxing crescent phase and would set not long after the imaging session would start, I decided to go after a narrowband object. I set a sequence to capture NGC 7000 (The north America Nebula), IC 5070 (The Pelican Nebula), and some surrounding nebulosity. 

I set up my wide field imaging rig Saturday night before dark. The forecast was holding true. That's when the gremlins hit. Somewhere between 10 PM and 11 PM, I fell asleep in my chair. I woke up at 12:30 AM and went outside and the skies were clear. How much time had I wasted??!!! Polar alignment and PHD2 calibration were completed without issue. After getting focused and getting the camera rotation set, I slewed the scope to Zenith to take flat frames. Somehow the Anti Dew feature in my imaging camera got turned off on a very humid night. I had a large area of dew or frost in the center of the frame. I lost about an hour figuring this out and correcting it. I finally started imaging sequence, and the first sub downloaded from the camera at 1:45 AM. The sequence ran until 3:54 AM, when NINA parked the scope and warmed the camera up. I covered the scope the next morning to protect it.

Sunday night was clear as predicted and I uncovered the scope. I checked the polar alignment and got the camera cooled down at dark (making sure the camera's anti dew heater was on). Once my target cleared the trees, I started the imaging sequence in NINA. The first sub was downloaded from the camera at 12:00 AM. The sequence ran until 3:50 AM. Although it got off to a bumpy start, things ended up well. Here is the resulting image. Can you find Deadpool's head? Can't find it? There's a Hint in the "How to find it" section below. 

The North America Nebula, Pelican Nebula, and Friends from my backyard on 6/28/2025 & 6/29/2025.

Processing:

All pre and post processing was performed in PixInsight. Pre-Processing: All subs were visually inspected with Blink and subs with issues were removed. All light Frames, Flats, Darks and Dark flats were loaded into WBPP. Linear Post Processing: Background extraction was performed with GraXpert followed by BXT (correct only). SPCC was used for Color Calibration followed by a full application of BXT. The Stars were removed using StarXT. Starless Linear: Noise was reduced with NXT. The image was made non-linear with HT. Linear Stars: The stars were made non-linear with Seti Astro's Star Stretch Script.

Non-linear Post Processing: Starless: The Narrowband normalization Process was used to get the "HOO" look. Color, intensity, and contrast were adjusted with various applications of CT. Saturation was increased with CT. The Image blend Script was used to sharpen the image with a High Pass Filter. LHE was applied at 2 Kernel sizes and Unsharp mask was applied. The DSE script was used to enhance dark nebula regions. CT was used to increase contrast and The Create HDR script was used to compress some of the brighter regions of nebulosity. Stars: Saturation was increased with CT. SCNR was applied and the Correct Magenta Stars Script was used to help with stars captured with a dual narrowband filter. CT was used to adjust contrast one last time. Final: The Stars and Starless images were combined with Pixel Math to produce the final image. 

What is it?

There's a lot going on in this image. I asked an AI tool to help, and this is what it provided. Overall, it is pretty good. I did have to edit some mistakes out. For example, the AI tool claimed the bright star Deneb (not in the image) was responsible for ionizing the gas. Although this was thought to be true in the past, by none other than Edwin Hubble himself, Deneb is too far away and not hot enough. 

NGC 7000 (North America Nebula)

This vast emission nebula in Cygnus spans over two degrees of sky, roughly three times the diameter of the full Moon. Its name derives from the striking resemblance to the North American continent, with the “Gulf of Mexico” dark lane carved by interstellar dust. Located about 1,600 light-years away, it glows as hydrogen atoms are ionized by ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars.

IC 5070 (Pelican Nebula)

Adjacent to NGC 7000, this emission nebula acquires its nickname from the bird-like silhouette formed by dusty filaments and bright gas. Also around 1,600 light-years distant, it shares the same massive H II region and is energized by young, massive stars. Dark lanes outline the “beak” and “body,” while bright ionized hydrogen gives the Pelican its luminous appearance.

Other Cataloged Objects

Catalog	Type	Description
NGC 6996	Open star cluster	Loose grouping of a few dozen stars embedded in faint nebulosity.
NGC 6997	Open star cluster	Richer cluster, slightly older, appearing as a tight knot of yellow-white stars.
NGC 7039	Open star cluster	Sparse cluster with mixed-age stars set against the Milky Way background.
NGC 7044	Open star cluster	Compact cluster with a handful of bright members, slightly reddened by dust.
NGC 7027	Planetary nebula	Small, dense shell of ionized gas ejected by a dying sun-like star.
IC 5068	Emission nebula	Fainter patch of ionized hydrogen, part of the extended complex.

Notable Stars

• 55 Cygni, 56 Cygni, 57 Cygni, 60 Cygni: Foreground stars that help define the field’s perspective.
• 62 ξ Cygni and 68 A Cygni: Bright guidepost stars for framing the North America/Pelican region.

Whether you’re tracing the dark lanes or marveling at the glowing hydrogen, this region offers a textbook view of star formation and stellar evolution in our Galaxy. 

An annotated version of the image.

How Big is it?

NGC 7000 has a size of 120 x 100 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 90 light years across.

IC 5070 has a size of 80 x 70 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 30 light years across.

How Far is it?

NGC 7000 is located about 2,600 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cygnus.

IC 5070 is located about 2,000 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cygnus.

How to find it?

NGC 7000 and IC 5070 are objects that can be visually observed. A telescope/eyepiece combination with a large Field of View is required. Binoculars are an excellent choice, providing a very wide field of view. Dark skies and a nebula filter will also provide significant benefit. The region is very close (see finder chart below) to the bright star Deneb. Deneb is one of the three stars that comprise the Summer Triangle. It is also the tail of Cygnus the Swan and the top of the Northern Cross asterism. 

Hint: To find Deadpool's head, look between the East Cost of the North America Nebula and the beak of the Pelican Nebula. Look for two eyes.

Finder Chart 

Image Details:

Capture Date: 6/28/2025 & 6/29/2025

Location: Eden, NY

Telescope: Askar FMA180 Pro

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme

Mount: Sky-Watcher USA EQ6-R Pro

Exposure: 40 exposures from 6/28/2025 and 70 hours from 6/29/2025 for a total of 110 exposures for a total exposure of almost 5 hours and 30 minutes. All exposures were captured at 180 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 50 / -10°C each.

Software: NINA, SharpCap Pro, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie

Cr 399 - The Coathanger Asterism - Wide Field

 I'll Say it again; this is a great target to observe using binoculars ...

Monday June 23^rd was forecast to be a clear night (the second clear night in a row). I was able to get my astrophotography rig set up before dark. Since we were so close to New Moon, I looked for a broadband target that would get high above the trees that obscure my horizon and would be appropriate for my wide field set up. Collinder 399, The Coathanger Asterism fits the criteria. The only thing that gave me pause is that I imaged this target previously, at a longer focal length (click here to view the blog post). After looking at this target in the Framing Wizard in NINA, I decided to go for it. 

Targets like this one are not as "exciting" as emission nebula or galaxies, but I'm always overwhelmed by the enormous number of stars contained within the field. Furthermore, The Coathanger is a great target to observe using binoculars. Regardless of whether you are an experienced amateur astronomer with many telescopes or you are just getting started with astronomy, binoculars are super useful for observing. Most people have access to binoculars, and they are a great way to get started in the hobby. I have a pair at home and a pair I keep in my truck. This target is very easy to find (see the "How to Find" section below). I never get tired of looking at it.

The evening went relatively well. I got everything set up and connected. After polar aligning the mount and calibrating PHD2, I began the imaging sequence. The first sub came in at 10:42 PM. I went to sleep, soon after that. The rig continued to collect subs until 3:58 in the morning. Here's the resulting image.

An image of Cr 399 - The Coathanger, captured from my backyard on 06/23/2025

Processing:

All pre and post processing was performed in PixInsight. Pre-Processing: All subs were visually inspected with Blink and subs with issues were removed. All light Frames, Flats, Darks and Dark flats were loaded into WBPP. Linear Post Processing: Background extraction was performed with GraXpert followed by BXT (correct only). SPCC was used for Color Calibration followed by a full application of BXT. The Stars were removed using StarXT. Starless Linear: Noise was reduced with NXT. The image was made non-linear with HT. Linear Stars: The stars were made non-linear with Seti Astro's Star Stretch Script.

Non-linear Post Processing: Starless: Color, intensity, and contrast were adjusted with various applications of CT. Saturation was increased with CT. The DSE script was used to enhance dark nebula regions. Stars: Saturation was increased with CT. Final: The Stars and Starless images were combined with Pixel Math to produce the final image. CT was used to adjust contrast one last time.

What is it?

The Coathanger is known as Collinder 399 (Cr 399) or Brocchi's Cluster. This object is an Asterism (a prominent or recognizable pattern of stars). It is not a true open star cluster, it is a chance alignment of 10 bright stars. There are about 30 more stars that some consider to be a part of the asterism. 

An annotated image of Cr 399.

How big is it?

This object has an angular distance of 89 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky.

How far is it?

It is located about 4,200 light-years (ly) from Earth in the Constellation Vulpecula.

How to find it?

This is object is relatively easy to find in a pair of binoculars, optical finder scope, or telescope with a wide field of view. It is located in the Constellation Vulpecula which is a dim constellation located within the Summer Triangle.  Use the finder chart below to help you locate it.

1. Find the Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb, & Altair).
2. Method 1: 
1. Find Albireo (a beautiful visual target itself) which is the head of Cygnus the Swan or the base of the Northern Cross. 
2. Find the star Alpha Vulpecula and draw an imaginary line from Albireo through Alpha Vulpecula. The Coathanger is roughly the same distance from Alpha Vulpecula as Alpha Vulpecula is from Albireo. 
3. Method 2:
1. Find Vega and Altair and draw an imaginary line between them.
2. The Coathanger is roughly between both stars (it's a little closer to Altair).

Finding Chart for Cr 399

Image Details:

Capture Date: 6/23/2025

Location: Eden, NY

Telescope: Askar FMA180 Pro

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

Filter: N/A

Mount: Sky-Watcher USA EQ6-R Pro

Exposure: 221 exposures at 60 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 50 / -10°C each for a total exposure of almost 3 hours and 41 minutes.

Software: NINA, SharpCap Pro, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie

NGC 6946 (The Fireworks Galaxy) from the BMO

Celestial Fireworks for Independence Day ...

Sunday 6/22/2025 was forecast to be clear. The first clear night in quite some time. In fact, the following night, Sunday 6/23/2025, was forecast to be clear too. Our club's astrophotography special interest group (The Tuesday Night Imagers) decided to image on Sunday night. I was unable to attend as Sunday is a work night, and this close to Solstice it gets dark enough to image too late. I was able to Zoom from home and help with target selection and set up of the imaging run. I dropped off the Zoom shortly after the first few images started to roll in.

The group decided to go after NGC 6946, also known as The Fireworks Galaxy. So close to New Moon, a broadband target like a galaxy is a great choice for imaging. Also, this target is appropriate as it was imaged so close to the US Independence Day Holiday (celebrated on the 4^th of July) which is celebrated with Fireworks displays. The team at the observatory was able to capture 19 subs at 300 seconds each for a total exposure of 1 hour 35 minutes. This is my processing of the data.

An image of NGC 6946 (The Fireworks Galaxy) from the BMO on 06/22/2025

Processing:

All pre and post processing was performed in PixInsight. Pre-Processing: All light Frames, Flats, Darks and Dark flats were loaded into WBPP. Linear Post Processing: Background extraction was performed with GraXpert followed by BXT (correct only). SPCC was used for Color Calibration followed by a full application of BXT. The Stars were removed using StarXT. Starless Linear: Noise was reduced with NXT. The image was made non-linear with HT. Starless Non-linear Post Processing: Saturation and intensity were increased with CT. Exponential Transformation was used to increase the intensity. The Image Blend script was used (with high pass filter) to increase sharpness. LHE was applied at two different kernel radii and Unsharp Mask was applied (lightly). Stars Linear: The Stars image was made non-linear with Seti Astro's Star Stretch script. Stars Non-Linear: Saturation was increased with CT. Starless: Intensity, and contrast were adjusted with various applications of CT. The Stars and Starless images were combined with Pixel Math to produce the final image

What is it?

NGC 6946 is also known as The Fireworks Galaxy because of the high rate of supernovae observed in it compared to other galaxies. NGC 6946 is a “relatively close’ face on spiral galaxy.

An annotated image of NGC 6946 (The Fireworks Galaxy)

How Big is it?

NGC 6946 has a size of 11.5 x 9. arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky. It is about 65,000 light years in diameter.

How Far is it?

NGC 6946 is located about 19 million light-years (ly) from Earth.

How to find it?

NGC 6946 is located in the constellation Cygnus. Look between Cygnus and the constellation Cepheus as shown by the small red square in the Finder Chart below. This object is faint but can be observed visually. Dark skies and large aperture are helpful in viewing this galaxy.

Finder Chart for NGC 6946 (The Fireworks Galaxy)

Image Details:

Capture Date: 06/22/2025
Location: North Java, NY (Buffalo Astronomical Association's Beaver Meadow Observatory)
Telescope: Celestron 14" Edge HD w/0.7x Reducer
Camera: OGMA AP26CC
Filter: OGMA 2" UV/IR Cut
Mount: Astro Physics AP1200 Mount
Exposure: 19 exposures at 300 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 100 / -10° C each for a total exposure of 1 hour 35 minutes.
Software: NINA, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie

First Light with the Askar FMA180 Pro

 It was a good night to shake down a new setup ...

The forecast for Saturday night 5/10 was for intermittent clouds early on and clear skies after midnight. this forecast, coupled with the fact that there was a very bright 96% illuminated Moon up almost the entire night, made it easy to decide to shake down my Askar FMA180 Pro (click here to view a post about building this rig). The goal was to get everything working, an imaging would be a bonus. 

The process started well before dark. It began when the Askar FRA600 (on loan from a friend) was removed from the mount. I took the Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Advance off the Askar FRA600 rings and installed it on the Losmandy Dovetail Rail that the Askar FMA180 Pro was installed on. I have three gutter spikes in the ground where I set up my mount for imaging. The mount was leveled, then the Askar FMA180 Pro rig was installed on the mount and connected all the cables (performing some cable management to tame the mess of cables). I connected everything to my laptop and verified that all the devices could connect to NINA, adjusting COM port settings as required. The telescope was then slewed to point at the tree line across the street so the Guide Scope and the Imaging Scope could be roughly focused. I also created the PHD2 profile for this setup and took darks for the guide camera. The mount was parked and covered with a tarp. 

At dusk, I came back out and uncovered the scope. The first order of business was to properly focus the Guide Scope. I used SharpCap to do this. Once focused, the mount was polar aligned. SharpCap was used for this too. The Guide Camera was disconnected from SharpCap and was reconnected to PHD2. Using the Calibration Assistant Tool, the mount was slewed to 0 declination and about 5 degrees from the Meridian. After calibration was completed, I ran the Guiding Assistant for 15 minutes and applied the recommended changes to the guiding settings. The Imaging Scope was focused by eye. I worked on multiple autofocus runs in NINA to optimize the autofocus settings. After getting the autofocus set up, I verified plate solving worked. So far so good. Dodged a few clouds here and there but everything progressed smoothly. So now what?

I started to search for imaging targets that would be a good fit for this wide field rig. The best option was IC 1396, The Elephant Trunk Nebula. I have imaged this target before with my 80 mm Refractor at 480 mm of focal length (click here to view the previous result for IC 1396). Unfortunately, this target did not clear the tree line until about 1:30 AM. Since this was the first weekend with nice weather this spring, we did a lot of yard work during the day and I did not want to stay up all night. Then it hit me, maybe this was the time to finally try the (Advanced) Sequencer in NINA. I had already download templates from Patriot Astro, but never had a need to try this functionality out. I modified the OSC template for my setup and did a quick test. It worked perfectly. I loaded in a Sequence to image IC1396 starting at 1:30 AM until about 4:45 AM.  Again, it worked perfectly! I woke up the next morning and the scope was parked, the camera warmed, and 55 subs were saved to the laptop's hard drive. I was worried the subs would be of poor quality due to the 96% illuminated Moon but was pleasantly surprised after processing the image. Having said that, if the opportunity presents itself to add more exposure time to this, I will! 

Here's the resulting image :

IC 1396 - The Elephant Trunk Nebula - first light with the Askar FMA180 Pro.

Processing:

All pre and post processing was performed in PixInsight. Pre-Processing: All subs were visually inspected with Blink and subs with issues were removed. All light Frames, Flats, Darks and Dark flats were loaded into WBPP. Linear Post Processing: Background extraction was performed with GraXpert followed by BXT (correct only). SPCC was used for Color Calibration followed by a full application of BXT. The Stars were removed using StarXT. Starless Linear: Noise was reduced with NXT. The image was made non-linear with HT. Linear Stars: The stars were made non-linear with Seti Astro's Star Stretch Script.

Non-linear Post Processing: Starless: The Narrowband normalization Process was used to get the "SHO" look. Color, intensity, and contrast were adjusted with various applications of CT. Saturation was increased with CT. The Image blend Script was used to sharpen the image with a High Pass Filter. LHE was applied at 2 Kernel sizes an the Unsharp mask was applied. The DSE script was used to enhance dark nebula regions. Stars: Saturation was increased with CT. SCNR was applied and the Correct Magenta Stars Script was used to help with stars captured with a dual narrowband filter. CT was used to adjust contrast one last time. Final: The Stars and Starless images were combined with Pixel Math to produce the final image. 

What is it?

IC 1396 is a region of ionized interstellar gas and dust that contains smaller regions of concentrated gas and dust that appear as dark knots or globules in visible light images. The gas in the entire region is being ionized by the bright star HD 206267 in the center of the image. The Elephant Trunk Nebula is one of those concentrations of gas and dust. It can be seen rising from the bottom of the image. These areas of concentrated gas and dust, including The Elephant Trunk, are star forming regions. Young stars within The Elephant Trunk were discovered in 2003 using infrared telescopes.

An annotated image of IC1396

How Big is it?

IC1396 has a size of 170 x 140 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky and is about 100 light years across.

How Far is it?

IC 1396 is located about 2,400 light-years (ly) in the Constellation Cepheus.

How to find it?

The constellation Cepheus is located near the bright signpost constellation Cassiopeia. Cepheus is a circumpolar constellation for observers at mid-northern latitudes and above. This means the constellation never sets. It is visible all night, appearing to circle the north celestial pole currently located near the North star, Polaris. to me, this constellation looks like a house with a disproportionately large roof. IC 1396 is indicated in the chart by the red rectangle just off what would be the ground floor of the house. 

Finder Chart for IC1396

Image Details:

Capture Date: 5/11//2025

Location: Eden, NY

Telescope: Askar FMA180 Pro

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro

Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme

Mount: Sky-Watcher USA EQ6-R Pro

Exposure: 55 exposures at 180 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 50 / -10°C each for a total exposure of almost 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Software: NINA, SharpCap Pro, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie

M82 from the BMO - Group Capture / Group Process

 Some processing fun on a very soggy Astronomy Day ...

Saturday May 5th was Astronomy Day. Our club had a busy day scheduled. We were going to open the observatory from 12 to 5 pm for Solar Observing and various other activities. A small group was leading a group of local Girl Scouts through a badge workshop. Finally, we had our monthly Public Night event. Mother Nature had other plans. We canceled the 12 to 5 pm Astronomy Day event due to persistent rain all day. We did use the time to clean and organize the observatory. The Girl Scout badge workshop went on as planned (just no observing) and we never cancel Public Night. We had one visitor, and I think that person was a friend of a member. 

One of the members of our club's imaging special interest group (The Tuesday Night Imagers) had collected data on M82 on Sunday 4/27 with our club's telescopes. She collected data with both the Celeston 14" Edge HD and the Tele Vue NP101is. Collecting data with only a UV/IR filter and some data with a Dual Narrowband filter. I copied the data from the 14" telescope to my portable hard drive and transferred it to my laptop. I had joined via Zoom and a few other members participated, but had to leave early. I fired up PixInsight and started processing it. I connected my laptop to one of our large screen TV's and we worked on the data as a group. I drove but many of the choices made during the processing came from the other members that participated. In particular one of our members who is an experienced astrophotographer and a meteorite hunter/collector. It was a lot of fun, and the resulting image is undoubtedly different from what I would have come up without their input. Here's the resulting image. 

M82 from the BMO on 4/27/2025 - Group process

Processing:

I'm going to keep this pretty high level. too much time has elapsed for me to accurately describe all the steps we used. Basically, data from both the UV/IR Cut filter and the Dual Narrowband filter was loaded into WBPP with all calibration frames and pre-processed. This resulted in two master light frames that were registered to one another. Both master lights were processed up through making them non-linear. We then split a clone of the Dual Narrowband data into separate channels (R, G, & B). We treated the R channel as Ha and added it to the UV/IR data. We also fully processed the unsplit Dual Narrowband data. Ultimately, we blended both images together with the image blend script. 

What is it?

Messier 82 (M82) is also known as The Cigar Galaxy. M82 is an example of a peculiar galaxy. It is also a starburst galaxy. It had a relatively recent (astronomically speaking) encounter with its neighbor, M81. M82 has been disturbed as a result of this encounter. We can see this in the dust lanes and heavy star formation.  

An annotated image of M82

How Big is it?

M82 has a size of 11.2 x 4.3 arcminutes (1 degree is 60 arcminutes) on the night sky. It is about 40,200 light years in diameter.

How Far is it?

M82 is located about 12 million light-years (ly) from Earth.

How to find it?

M82 is a popular target or visual astronomers and astrophotographers. For visual observation, larger aperture, a night with no moon, and dark skies always help for galaxies. I would recommend a low power (wide field if view) eyepiece. With my 24 mm Tele Vue Panoptic and my 8" f/6 Dob, I can get both M81 & M82 in the same field of view. Ust eh following steps to find M82 (and M81):

1. Find the Big Dipper.
2. find the Bowl Stars Phecda & Dubhe (Note: Phecda is the Star where M109 is indicated in the finder chart below)
3. Draw an imaginary line from Phecda to Dubhe
4. Extend the line through Dubhe roughly the same distance as the Phecda/Dubhe line
5. M81 & M82 should be in your eyepiece or an optical finder scope

Finder Chart for M82

Image Details:

Capture Date: 04/27/2025

Location: North Java, NY (Buffalo Astronomical Association's Beaver Meadow Observatory)

Telescope: Celestron 14" Edge HD w/0.7x Reducer

Camera: OGMA AP26CC

Filter: OGMA 2" UV/IR Cut & Antlia 5 nm Alp-T Dual Narrowband

Mount: Astro Physics AP1200 Mount

Exposure: UV/IR Cut: 18 exposures at 300 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 100 / -10° C each for a total exposure of 1 hour 30 minutes. Alp-T: 10 exposures at 600 sec / Gain 100 / Offset 100 / -10° C each for a total exposure of 1 hour 40 minutes. Combined: 3 hours 10 minutes

Software: NINA, PHD2, and PixInsight

Clear Skies!

Ernie