More than astrophotography, an astronomical exploration.
NGC 6914
David Cruz · Astromidnight
In Cygnus, clouds of hydrogen glow red, cut through by dark dust. At the centre, young, hot stars light up the dust around them in blue.
| Catalogue | New General Catalogue, 1888 · NGC 6914 · vdB 131 · vdB 132 |
| Type | Reflection and emission nebulae |
| Distance | ≈ 3,300 light-years |
| Field | 71.7′ × 47.2′ |
| Real width | ≈ 69 × 45 light-years |
| Scale | 0.52″ / pixel |
| Orientation | 88° · east up |
| RA (centre) | 20h 24m 36s |
| DEC (centre) | +42° 26′ 50″ |
| Constellation | Cygnus |
| Objects in field | NGC 6914 · vdB 131 · vdB 132 · Dolidze 8 · V1515 Cyg · 3 LDN |
Distance of the stars that light up vdB 131 and vdB 132 and of the cluster Dolidze 8, measured by the Gaia satellite (between 3,100 and 3,400 light-years, SIMBAD, Cantat-Gaudin et al. 2020, Hunt & Reffert 2023). NASA (APOD, 2011) gives an old value of 6,000 light-years, which the Gaia parallaxes do not confirm. The real width assumes 3,300 light-years. NGC 6914 is placed at the centre of the blue nebula (AstroBin NGC marker); the nebula labels are approximate. V1515 Cyg, Dolidze 8, LkHα 228 and HD 194220 are positioned from SIMBAD.
10 h 50 min of light
Each tick is one exposure. 150 in total, with the camera at −10 °C and gain 100. Calibrated with 30 darks, 30 flats and 30 bias. The Moon stayed below 85 % 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