North America Nebula

The “North America nebula” (NGC 7000) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb. The shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico. NGC 7000 was discovered by William Herschel in 1786, the shape was noticed by Max Wolf in 1890. The so-called “Cygnus Wall”, a region exhibiting the most concentrated star formation is clearly visible in the image bel0w.

During September 2021, I made some test runs with my new monochromatic CCD ASI1600mm pro. I used the L (luminance, UV-IR) filter, stacked 74 light frames (10 sec each). Unfortunately, no auto-guiding, but the individual exposures were sufficiently short. Bias, dark and flat frames were taken too. The ASI is, mainly due to its cooling, more sensitive than the Canon EOS. This can be seen comparing the images on M31, M45 and h&chi Per.  Image processing was done using PixInsight V 1.8.8.-10.

NGC 7000, North America Nebula (detail), 04 September 2021, Kempen, William Optics APO 110 mm, f/7, L (UV-IR) filter, ASI1600mm pro,gain 139, T = -10C, 740 sec. No auto-guiding. Image processing with PixInsight

One year later, in September 2022, I obtained another exposure with 3600 s (L-filter). The centre of the field-of-view was shifted with respect to the 2021 image, so that the open stellar cluster NGC 6997 is included. In addition, using the PixInsight process “MosaicByCoordinates”, a mosaic using both, the Sep 2021 and Sep 2022 images could be constructed.

Part of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000) with stellar cluster NGC 6997 to the right. 12 September 2022, Kempen, 

William Optics APO 110 mm, f/7, L (UV-IR) filter, ASI1600mm pro, gain 139, T = -10C, 3600 sec. Image processing with PixInsight V.1.8.9

Mosaic of two exposures of the North America Nebula region: 4 September 2021& 12 September 2022, Kempen, 

William Optics APO 110 mm, f/7, L (UV-IR) filter, ASI1600mm pro,gain 139, T = -10C, 740 s (2021), 3600 sec (2022. 

Image processing with PixInsight V.1.8.9

In September 2023, I used the Canon EF telelens (f = 200 mm) to obtain an image of the entire nebula (150 arcminutes) in H-alpha. The picture orientation is such that comparison with details pictures above is possible.

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