Cygnus - Straight Up
Milkyway Field in the Fall

 

            
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 Taken
            with a moderately wide angle lens, the summer Milkyway that passes
            through our zenith is nearly as exciting as the core of the galaxy
            itself further south. This image is centered on Cygnus, and on
            the left is Cepheus, and on the right edge is Aquilla. You can
            also see Delphinus on the lower right, and top center is Lyra.

            
The dark central
            dust lane running through the center of the band of the Milkyway
            is tinted yellows and browns as they dim and modify the colors
            of the stars behind them. Numerous patches of hydrogen in our
            Galaxy appear as pink glows, the North American nebula just left
            of center, and the large round patch on the left is IC1396 in
            Cepheus. The very center of this field contains Gamma Cygni and
            its associated red nebulosities as well, much smaller and fragmented.

Lens:  Canon 17 - 40 mm L at f/4
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200  (Piggyback on 12.5")
Camera:  Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO400
Exposure:  12 x 10m
Filters:  UV/Lumicon Ha Pass
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  8/10, Transparency 9/10
Outside Temperature:  60F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS2, Maxim DSLR
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