Iris nebula

NGC 7023, the Iris nebula,  is a reflection nebula in the constellation of Cepheus.  The bright blue reflection nebula is surrounded by many darker dust clouds covering all the image field. Obtained on June 23th 2023 from a rural site near Hortezuela de Ocen (Spain).  Click  here  for a higher resolution image.

Equipment:

Two scopes were used, mounted on a Losmandy G11 equatorial mount with a Primaluce LE computer control unit. A FSQ 106N scope with Sbig STL11000 camera (Baader luminance filter), and a Samyang 135 mm lens set at f2.8 with a QHY 183M CMOS camera (QHY filter wheel with Baader red, green and blue filters).  

For autoguiding, a STL external guide camera with a 135 mm lens.

Image data:  

136 minutes of luminance (FSQ106-STL11000, subexposures of 8 minutes).  99 minutes of color (Samyang 135 f2.8-QHY183M: 15x3 minutes red, 9x3 green, 9x3  blue).

Software: Image acquisition with CCD Commander and Sequence Generator Pro (QHY183M camera). Image processing on Pixinsight.