by Craig and Tammy Temple
The Cocoon Nebula, or Caldwell 19, is actually a collection of objects. The cluster of stars is IC 5146, the emission & reflection nebulae are Sh2-125 and the surrounding dark (absorption) nebula is Barnard 168. It is relatively bright at magnitude 7.20 in the constellation Cygnus. The prominent surrounding starfield is our own Milky Way.
Telescope: 10” Orion Newtonian at f/4.7
Accessories: Baader MPCC
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G controlled by EQMOD
Guiding: Orion StarShoot AutoGuider on William Optics ZS66
Camera: Self-modified Canon Digital Rebel XT
Filters: Astronomik CLS-CCD EOS Clip
Exposure: 76 x 240sec @ ISO 800 (5hr. 4min.)
Acquisition: ImagesPlus 3.75 Camera Control
Processing: ImagesPlus 3.75 – Calibrated, registered, Sigma-clipped averaged, DDP
Post-processing: Adobe Photoshop CS4; Gradient XTerminator; Noise Ninja
Date(s): August 30 & 31, 2009
Temperature(s): 68ºF & 69ºF