Cygnus Wall
(NGC 7000)
The shape of the bird spreading its wings at the bottom right is known as The Cygnus Wall - a ‘star nursery’ where stars are born. The dark patch looks like a hole with stars behind, but it is actually a layer of dust obscuring part of the nebula.
At magnitude 4, NGC 7000 is around the same brightness as the Orion Nebula and these two are the brightest nebulas in the Northern Hemisphere.
Total integration time: 10hrs 20mins
Ha 40x300
OIII 39x300
SII 45x300
Filters
The image was taken in ‘the Hubble Palette’. Copying a processing system created for the Hubble Space Telescope, filters are used to take separate images of three gases with a monochrome sensor: Sulphur (SII) Hydrogen (Ha) and Oxygen (OIII). These are respectively coloured red green and blue. When they are combined, the final colour image is created, with an unmistakable, Hubble hue.
It’s the same system Hubble used to create its iconic image of The Pillars of Creation…
