The Iris Nebula, LBN 487, is a reflection nebula that lies 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus. NGC 7023 is actually the cluster within the nebula. It shines at a magnitude of 6.8 and is illuminated by the bright 7th magnitude star SAO 19158. This nebula is six light-years across.
Telescope: Stellarvue SV80ST triplet APO @ f/6
Accessories: Stellarvue SFF3 flattener; Dew control by Dew Buster; Alnitak Flat-Man
Mount: Takahashi EM-200 Temma2
Camera: QSI583wsg CCD @ -10.0C
Guiding: Starlight Xpress Lodestar via PHD
Filters: Astrodon Tru-balance E-Series Generation II LRGB
Exposure: 18 x 5min. Luminance, binned 1x1; 6 x 3min. each RGB, binned 2x2
Acquisition: ImagesPlus Camera Control v5
Processing: Pixinsight 1.8 RC7
Post-processing: Pixinsight 1.8 RC7; Adobe Photoshop CS5
Date(s): August 14, 15, 2013
SQM reading (begin - end): N1:19.89 – 21.03; N2:19.43 - clouds
Temperature (begin - end): N1:59.6ºF – 56.7ºF; N2:68.2ºF – 66.6ºF
Location: Pin Oak Lake, Natchez Trace State Park, Lexington, TN, USA