This shot of the aptly named North America Nebula (also known as NGC7000) shows detail in the 'wall' section - a very active Hydrogen Alpha emission portion of the nebula that glows in a reddish-salmon color in this natural color image. Additionally, a portion of the dimmer Pelican nebula (the 'beak' section) is visible protruding into the upper right portion of this image. Equipment: Canon 550D (astro-modified, clear glass filter) Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Light Frames: 14 x 360 secs 2 x 300 secs (1 hr 34 mins) Dark Frames: 15 x 360 secs (1 hr 30 mins) Other Frames: 30 Bias No Flats More details from Wikipedia: The North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb (the tail of the swan and its brightest star). The remarkable shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico. It is sometimes incorrectly called the "North American Nebula".[3]
A close up view of the center area of the Rosette Nebula, shot from the shores of Abiquiu Lake in NM. Equipment: SBIG STF-8300c Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom 4.3 Photoshop CS2 Light Frames: 15 x 720 secs (3 hrs) Dark Frames: 4 x 720 secs (48 mins) Details about The Rosette Nebula From Wikipedia: The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter. Additional information at the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosette_Nebula
The Helix Nebula is one of the closest planetary nebula to the Earth, at an estimated distance of about 650 light years. This then also makes it the largest planetary nebula in the night sky. Planetary nebula have nothing to do with planets, but are created when some stars, nearing the end of their stellar lifetime, begin to blow off layers of material. This object is low in the sky, even imaged from Southern AZ, but still makes for a interesting object, even with a 100mm refractor. Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and Gain:200 Offset:50 Software Bisque MyT Mount Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8 Innovations Foresight ONAG Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8 Lightroom CC Photoshop CC Innovations Foresight SkyGuard Light Frames: Ha: 41 x 300 secs ( 3 hrs 25 mins) OIII: 37 x 300 secs (3 hrs 5 mins) SII: 34 x 300 secs (2 hrs 50 mins) Red: 11 x 30 secs (5 mins 30 secs) Green: 12 x 30 secs (6 mins) Blue: 12 x 30 secs (6 mins) 9 hrs 37 mins 30 secs total Dark Frames: 10 x 60 secs, RGB (30 mins) 10 x 360 secs, Ha,OIII,SII (3 hrs) Bias Frames 100 Flat Frames 20 each filter More Info from Wikipedia: The Helix Nebula (also known as NGC 7293 or Caldwell 63) is a planetary nebula (PN) located in the constellation Aquarius. Discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824, this object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae.[4] The distance, measured by the Gaia mission, is 655±13 light-years.[5] It is similar in appearance to the Cat's Eye Nebula and the Ring Nebula, whose size, age, and physical characteristics are similar to the Dumbbell Nebula, varying only in its relative proximity and the appearance from the equatorial viewing angle.[6] The Helix Nebula has sometimes been referred to as the "Eye of God" in pop culture,[7] as well as the "Eye of Sauron".[8][9]
