More than astrophotography, an astronomical exploration.
IC 1311 and Patchick 6
David Cruz · Astromidnight
In Cygnus, behind clouds of hydrogen and dust, an old cluster of yellowish stars shines about 20,000 light-years away. Beside it, a small pale bubble: the planetary nebula Patchick 6.
| Catalogue | Index Catalogue, IC 1311 |
| Type | Open cluster |
| Distance | ≈ 20,000 light-years |
| Field | 84.2′ × 55.5′ |
| Scale | 0.54″ / pixel |
| Orientation | −2° · north up |
| RA (centre) | 20h 10m 45s |
| DEC (centre) | +41° 10′ 24″ |
| Constellation | Cygnus |
| Objects in field | IC 1311 · Patchick 6 · B 342 · 2 LBN |
Distance and age of IC 1311 measured with the Gaia satellite (Cantat-Gaudin et al. 2020; Hunt & Reffert 2023 gives ≈ 21,600 light-years). The nebulae in the field are much closer than the cluster, so no real width is given. The distance of Patchick 6 is not published. Positions of the nebulae taken from AstroBin labels and approximate; that of Patchick 6 comes from SIMBAD.
13 h 30 min of light
Each tick is one exposure. 180 in total, with the camera at −10 °C and gain 100. Calibrated with 30 darks, 30 flats and 30 bias. The Moon stayed below 25 % illumination throughout.
Carbon Newton 10' f/4
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Sky-Watcher CQ350 Pro
Askar M54 OAG · ZWO ASI120MM Mini
TS-Optics Maxfield .95X Coma Corrector
Player One Anti-Halo Pro Dual-Band Ha+OIII Filter 2"
Adobe Photoshop · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)
São Pedro da Gafanhoeira, Évora · 358 m
Bortle 3