Mosaic of Reflection Nebula NGC 6914

Recently we wrote a post covering a collaborative on a mosaic of NGC 7023, The Iris Nebula, imaged by accomplished astrophotographers, Paul C. Swift and Carmelo Falco. This is an image that Insight Observatory was fortunate to be able to contribute to by providing luminance data from the 16" f/3.7 astrograph reflector (ATEO-1). Paul and Carmelo have since produced another astonishing mosaic image, NGC 6914. This deep-sky object is a reflection nebula located approximately 6,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus and the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. The nebula was discovered by Édouard Stephan on August 29, 1881.

This mosaic of the reflection nebula NGC 6914 is made up of data from different focal lengths. 380mm, 1330, 1525mm, and 3400mm. Image processed by Paul C. Swift.

The final image data was processed by Paul C. Swift with data acquired from his backyard with a VSD Vixen 380mm & AG14 1330mm Newtonian astrograph. The filter wheel is an SX-46 with an SX Maxi wheel from Starlight Xpress Ltd. A formatted array of 27 x 21.6 mm and 6uM square pixels. Newtonian telescope at 1330mm and Chroma Filters RGBL mounted on a Paramount MX.

Data for the central area of the nebula was imaged by Camelo Falco using his Ritchey-Chretien C 410mm f7.8 customized at 3400mm and an Apogee Aspin GG16m imaging camera. The mount is a customized RM500 Mount. Carmelo's guiding system is an Orion SteadyStar + Lodestar. The filter used by Carmelo was a Baader LRGB set.

Finally, additional Luminance data for outer areas was taken from Insight Observatory's 16" f/3.7 Astrograph reflector 1525mm (ATEO-1).

The Three imaging systems were used to collect data on NGC 6914, a reflection nebula in Cygnus. Carmelo Falco's 16" f/7.8 Ritchey-Chretien (left), Paul Swift's VSD Vixen 380mm & AG14 1330mm Newtonian astrograph (above right), and Insight Observatory's 16" f/3.7 Dream astrograph reflector, ATEO-1, (lower right).

From the image of NGC 6914 processed by Paul, obscuring interstellar dust clouds appear in silhouette while reddish hydrogen emission nebulae, along with the dusty blue reflection nebulae, fill the cosmic canvas. Ultraviolet radiation from the massive, hot, young stars of the extensive Cygnus OB2 association ionizes the region's atomic hydrogen gas, producing the characteristic red glow as protons and electrons recombine. Embedded Cygnus OB2 stars also provide the blue starlight strongly reflected by the dust clouds. The nearly 1-degree wide telescopic field of view spans about 100 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 6914.