This area of Cepheus doesn't get a lot of attention. There's no Elephant Trunk nebula, no Bat or Squid nebula, no Wizard nebula, no Iris Nebula. So naturally, I wanted to take some time and get a really deep integration on it, to try for a unique view.

Maybe the most interesting thing in this photo is the small blue blob of Oiii (with a sharp Ha/Sii arc) that's about 20% over from the left side of the image, and about a third of the way up from the bottom. At some point during data acquisition, the Oiii just started showing up. I thought it was dust in my imaging train, but after re-taking my flats, the Oiii was still there. Jaša Rebula was able to figure out that the area had been cataloged as supernova remnant Te 12….

The Edge of the Elephant Trunk

Taken over the course of 33 nights, this is 174 hours of exposure on an area of sky that's rarely imaged alone, but often included in wide field views of Cygnus.

This region is directly north of the Elephant Trunk Nebula, and the faint outer edge of the Elephant Trunk can be seen on the right side of this image.

This is my first image since upgrading to a mono camera, and I couldn't be happier with the switch from OSC to mono.

Image Description and Details :

This was shot over the course of 18 nights, spanning 4 months (winter skies in Nashville aren't the greatest). The Canon lens was @ f/4.

The real challenge with this photo came from the Spaghetti Nebula (aka SH2-240, Simeis 147). It's incredibly dim and barely shows up in a single 20 minute sub, which is in stark contrast to brightness of the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) and Tadpoles Nebula (IC 410, NGC 1893). I had to process this as HDR so that they appeared to have the same brightness.

Imaging lens: Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM
Imaging cameras: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Mounts: Sky-Watcher EQ6R-PRO
Guiding telescopes or lenses: ZWO Mini Guide Scope
Guiding cameras: ZWO ASI290MM Mini
Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInisight · Photoshop CC
Filters: Optlong L-eXtreme 2" · Optolong L-eNhance 2"
Accessory: ZWO AsiAir Pro

Dates:
Dec. 10, 2020, Dec. 11, 2020, Dec. 13, 2020, Dec. 18, 2020, Dec. 21, 2020, Dec. 22, 2020, Jan. 6, 2021, Jan. 13, 2021, Jan. 14, 2021, Feb. 4, 2021, Feb. 8, 2021, March 4, 2021, March 5, 2021, March 7, 2021, March 8, 2021, March 9, 2021, March 10, 2021, March 11, 2021

Frames:
Optolong L-Pro 2'': 40x15" (gain: 100.00) -10C bin 1x1
Optolong L-Pro 2'': 40x30" (gain: 100.00) -10C bin 1x1
Optolong L-Pro 2'': 40x60" (gain: 100.00) -10C bin 1x1
Optolong L-eNhance 2": 143x1200" (gain: 100.00) -10C bin 1x1
Optolong L-eXtreme 2": 56x1200" (gain: 100.00) -10C bin 1x1

Integration: 67.5 hours

Darks: ~40

Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 8.00



Copyright: Jeffrey Horne