More than astrophotography, an astronomical exploration.
Sh2-82 - Little Cocoon Nebula
David Cruz · Astromidnight
In Sagitta, a young and very hot star lights up the hydrogen around it in pink, and the nearby dust reflects its light back in blue. All around, dark filaments cut across a sea of golden Milky Way stars.
| Catalogue | Sharpless, 1959 · LBN 129 |
| Type | Emission and reflection nebula |
| Distance | ≈ 2,500 light-years |
| Field | 73.8′ × 49.3′ |
| Scale | 0.52″ / pixel |
| Orientation | −3° · north up |
| RA (centre) | 19h 30m 22s |
| DEC (centre) | +18° 14′ 05″ |
| Constellation | Sagitta |
| Objects in field | Sh2-82 · LBN 128 · 2 LDN · Teutsch 42 · 1 pulsar · 1 X-ray binary · 1 supernova remnant |
Distance of Sh2-82 from the Gaia EDR3 parallax of the star that lights it, HD 231616 (Méndez-Delgado et al. 2022, 0.78 ± 0.06 kpc). Older photometric estimates gave 1.6 to 1.8 kpc (5,000 to 6,000 light-years) and the Gaia astrometry of this star has a high RUWE, so the distance remains uncertain. No real width: the distance of the nebula is not well established and the field brings together much more distant objects (cluster, pulsar, X-ray binary). Distance of Teutsch 42 calculated by us from the mean Gaia parallax of its members. Nebula positions taken from the AstroBin labels and approximate; the rest from SIMBAD.
16 h 40 min of light
Each tick is a 240-second exposure. 250 in total, with the camera at −10 °C and gain 100. Calibrated with 50 darks, 50 flats and 50 bias. The Moon stayed below 15 % illumination throughout.
Carbon Newton 10' f/4
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Sky-Watcher CQ350 Pro
Askar M54 OAG · ZWO ASI120MM Mini
TS-Optics NEWTON Coma Corrector 1.0x (TSGPU)
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