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Cocoon Nebula (IC5146) and B168

 

Canon EOS 5D MkII ISO6400 33x30s 254mm Newtonian f/4.8 (f=1200mm)
HEQ5 mount, driven but not guided 2011 Sep 28 22:50:49-23:10:12 UT
From Rookhope 54.8N 2.1W 330m asl. Rural, almost no light pollution (3 Bortles)

This nebula, embedded in the Milky Way at the north end of Cygnus, appears to have cleared a path through the stars. That is not possible. A more reasonable explanation is that, at about 4,000 light years away, it is closer to us than most of the stars and it has an associated dust cloud that is obscuring stars behind. The dust cloud is one of many "dark nebulae" catalogued by Barnard and this is B168.

Here is a crop from another exposure showing more detail of the emission/reflection nebula itself:

Canon EOS 5D MkII ISO6400 65x30s 254mm Newtonian f/4.8 (f=1200mm)
HEQ5 mount, driven but not guided 2011 Sep 28 22:10:15-22:48:22 UT
From Rookhope 54.8N 2.1W 330m asl. Rural, almost no light pollution (3 Bortles)

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