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July 14, 2014

The Cygnus Wall in H-alpha (July 9, 2014)

This well-known cloud of interstellar dust and gases in the constellation Cygnus glows here with the light of ionized hydrogen.  The image was taken with the moon >85% full.

Telescope: Astro-Tech AT111EDT and William Optics AFR-IV (eff. at f/5.6)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9 23x900"), Alnitak Flat-man flats
Filter: Astronomik 6nm Ha
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX
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2 comments:

  1. RoryGJuly 16, 2014 at 9:57 AM

    Very nice! I'm curious, though. Do you depend on GOTO to locate objects like this, or can you actually see the Milky Way from your location?

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  2. Polaris BJuly 16, 2014 at 10:13 PM

    Hey, Rory! That's a good question. I synced on Vega, then directed the Goto to near this spot based on coordinates. But I was still off. I took a 30-second frame and stretched it in order to figure out where the Wall was. After that, I could watch stars move as I electronically nudged the mount, while taking 5-second exposures, to where the camera would best frame this area.

    No, I can't see the Milky Way from here. In 1998 I could when the moon was new, but not now. Anyway, the moon was almost full when I took this, and the Galaxy would have been invisible either way.

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