SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Jon Greif
Location of Photo:
Alpine, CA USA
Date/Time of photo:
August 7-8, 2023, between 9 pm and 4 am PDT
Equipment:
Takahashi FSQ-85ED with 1.01x flattener/reducer. ZWO ASI533MC Pro imaging camera. Optolong L-Pro filter. Rainbow Astro RST-135 Mount. ZWO 30mm Mini Guide Scope with ZWO ASI290 Mini guide camera. ASIAIR Plus controller. Processed in Pixinsight 1.8.9.
Description:
The supergiant star Gamma Cygni, better known as Sadr, is located in the center of this beautiful Hydrogen II emission region, along with a complex of stars, dust clouds and glowing nebulae along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The field of view extends over 3 degrees (six full moons) in the sky and includes the emission nebula IC 1318 and the open star cluster NGC 6910 (toward the top left of the image). Formed like two glowing cosmic wings separated by a long dark dust alley, IC 1318's popular name is the Butterfly Nebula. Distance estimates from Earth for Sadr are around 1,800 light years, while the estimates for IC 1318 and NGC 6910 are between 2,000 and 5,000 light years. The image is a 6 hour exposure shot from our Alpine yard night before last.
