NGC 7822 - Cosmic Question Mark

Just below the constellation Cephus, you’ll find NGC 7822, or the Cosmic Question Mark. NGC 7822 is a young star forming complex about 3,000 light-years from Earth that encompasses the emission region designated Sharpless 171, and the young cluster of stars named Berkeley 59.

August 17, 2024

This is my second attempt at the Cosmic Question Mark (well… at least the top half of it… the dot is just below the bright area of nebulosity, out of frame). On the first attempt I struggled with noisy, splotchy data with only about 3 hours of integration. This time, I gathered a fresh batch of almost 5 hours (I had to toss a few subs due to planes). This is a difficult object to image for me with light-polluted skies, but I’m still reasonably happy with this result, given the relatively short integration time and given that this object lives in the most light-polluted patch of sky from my location. Perhaps I’ll revisit this one another time or from another location and compare results! I may also see if I can combine this data and my old data and get a better result.

Technical Details

Imaging Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 II

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro

Filter: Antlia Tri-band RGB Ultra Filter - 2” Mounted

Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF, ZWO Filter Drawer (Gen 2)

Software: Siril, Starnet, Photoshop, NoiseXterminator, APF-R

Guiding Telescope: William Optics UniGuide 32

Guiding Camera: ZWO ASI174MM

Imaging Dates: August 16, 2024

Frames (gain 101.0) f/4.9 -10c: 95x180” (4h45m)

Integration Time: 4h45m

Darks/Flats/Dark Flats: 30/25/30

Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 6.00

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IC1396 - Elephant Trunk Nebula