IC 1318
Butterfly Nebula (Natural Palette)
Inside the Northern Cross
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Supergiant star Gamma Cygni lies at the center of the Northern Cross, famous asterism in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Known by its proper name, Sadr, the bright star also lies at the center of this gorgeous skyscape, featuring a complex of stars, dust clouds, and glowing nebulae along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The field of view spans almost 4 degrees (eight Full Moons) on the sky and includes emission nebula IC 1318 and open star cluster NGC 6910. Left of Gamma Cygni and shaped like two glowing cosmic wings divided by a long dark dust lane, IC 1318’s popular name is understandably the Butterfly Nebula. Above and left of Gamma Cygni, are the young, still tightly grouped stars of NGC 6910. Some distance estimates for Gamma Cygni place it at around 1,800 light-years while estimates for IC 1318 and NGC 6910 range from 2,000 to 5,000 light-years.
Butterfly Nebula in Cygnus
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Technical card
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| Object | IC 1318 |
| Imaging telescope | Celestron Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph 8″ |
| Imaging camera | ZWO ASI 1600MM PRO |
| Mount | iOptron CEM60 |
| Guiding | Guidescope 240mm, ZWO ASI 120MM |
| Filter | Baader f/2 Highspeed H-Alpha, Baader f/2 Highspeed OIII, Baader f/2 Highspeed SII (each 2″) |
| Accessories | Starizona Filter Slider, Celestron Focus Motor for SCT |
| Integration | 25.4 hours, H-Alpha: 333×100″, OIII: 336×100″, SII: 245×100″ |
| Dates of recording | 6 nights in September 2019 |
| AstroBin | Link |
IC 1318 PRINT & RAW DATA
Now available for purchase in 3 different sizes. Premium Fuji Crystal prints with a gloss finish. Fuji C-Type paper guarantees excellent detail, contrast and color accuracy.
Download of the fully calibrated data set now available!
