SH2-86
SH2-86 is a faint emission nebula located in the constellation Vulpecula. Within this region also lies the reflection nebula NGC 6820 and at its centre is star cluster NGC 6823. The star cluster is about 6000 light years from Earth and was formed around 2 million years ago.
image specifications
- Total integration time - 4 hours and 35 mins
- Each image was 300 seconds long with the gain set to unity (100)
- Dark and flat calibration frames were used in the stacking process.
How the image was taken
I took this photograph using the Skywatcher 150 F5 6inch black diamond series Newtonian reflector telescope. To enable long exposure at this focal length, I mounted the telescope onto a motorised German equatorial mount (GEM), the Saxon NEQ6 Pro. I paired my telescope with the ZWO ASI533 mc pro cooled one shoot colour (OSC) camera. Dedicated astrophotography cameras can capture more wavelengths of light so more detail can be seen compared to using a standard DSLR camera. The camera has a built-in fan for cooling the sensor to reduce noise, I set the target temperature to -5 degrees celsius. I used an Optolong L-Enhance filter. The image was stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and edited in Pixinsight and Photoshop.