Instrument

Takahashi FSQ-106ED @ f/5.0 (530 mm F.L.) Captured at 2.1 arcsec/pixel.  Shown at 3.50 and 9.34 arcsec/pixel.

Mount

Losmandy G11 with Gemini L4 v1.0

Camera

SBIG STF-8300M Self Guiding Package w/ mono ST-i, using Baader RGB filters and an AstroDon 6nm Ha filter.

Acquisition Data

7/20/2014 to 8/17/2014 Chino Valley, AZ... with CCDSoft & CCD Commander.

Exposure

Software & Processing Notes

• CCDSoft, CCDStack, PixInsight and Photoshop CS6.

• eXcalibrator v4.25 for (g:r) color balancing, using 88 stars from the SDSS-DR9 database.

• CCDStack to calibrate, register, normalize, data reject, combine the sub exposures and create the Ha and RGB images.

• PixInsight processing includes the initial non-linear stretching with HistogramTransformation & MaskedStretch. LocalHistogramEqualization and HDRMultiscaleTransform were used to enhance the detail.

• PhotoShop for the R(Ha):G:B combine and final touch-up.

• Noiseware 5, a PhotoShop plug-in.

Comment

The nebula is shown rotated 90° clockwise.

This image shows a large nebula complex in the constellation Cygnus, at a distance of about 6000 light years. The two blue reflection nebulae, to the left of center, are cataloged as the vdB 132. To the left, and slightly lower, is the reflection nebula vdB 131. Together, they are cataloged as NGC 6914. The image also contains many cataloged bright and dark nebulae, and a few relatively rare yellow reflection nebulae.

The emission nebula is illuminated by the star cluster Cygnus OB2. The cluster contains about 100 class "O" and about 2500 class "B" stars. These stars are incredibly hot and bright, shining with a color similar to the blue–white of an arc welder.

For a closer view of NGC 6914, click here.