Triple APOD - July 3, 2024: Cygnus Wall by Nick Larsen All-Star Amateur Astronomy Photo of the Day - Click to Enlarge


Triple APOD - July 3, 2024: Cygnus Wall by Nick Larsen

The Cygnus Wall is a region of intense star formation in the North America Nebula, within the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. The visible parts are regions where ultraviolet light from a very hot central star ionizes low pressure gasses, causing them to glow at very particular wavelength particular to the elemental composition of the gasses present.

Filters can then be made to accept just a very narrow slice of the spectrum, centered on those wavelengths particular to the different elements present in the nebula. This allows for a much better signal to noise ratio when imaging through heavy light pollution, making astrophotography from urban areas possible! This image, for example, was shot from Bortle 8 skies under a full moon and the summer twilight glow present at very northern latitudes!

Filters for ionized Hydrogen and Oxygen are the most common, as those wavelengths are the most prevalent in the visible range in our night sky. A filter for Sulphur is often used due to the contrast it provides against the other two filters within star forming regions, and when Sulphur, Hydrogen, and Oxygen are assigned to red, green, and blue respectively, you end up with an SHO image, more commonly known as the Hubble palette. This false colour image processing technique with its distinctive blue and gold colouring was made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope, and the images made with it starting in 1990.

Image Details:

Photographed and processed by Nick Larsen of @spacerocksandstardust on Instagram

Total image integration time of 18 hrs over 6 nights

  • 180 second sub-exposures in Ha, 6 hrs total
  • 180 second sub-exposures in OIII, 6 hrs total
  • 180 second sub-exposures in SII, 6 hrs total
  • Stacked, registered and processed in Siril

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