Pillars in Vulpecula

[Ryderscope (Rodney)]

Herewith we have Sharpless 2-86, a HII region in Vulpecula along with the open star cluster NGC6823 in the centre of the field. Also making an entrance is the reflection nebula NGC6820. The "Pillars" reference is due to the obvious similarity to the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula.

Being a somewhat northerly object at a declination of +23d I was only able to get to it for about four hours or so per night. Fortunately the weather was kind over August and September so managed to grab enough photons. Still took a fair amount of exposure as the main nebula is rather faint.

Link to Astrobin image is here.
Full details of acquisition etc. to be found in Astrobin post.

Clear Skies,
Rodney

[Placidus (Mike and Trish)]

The little open cluster makes it photographically. Stars look sharp and clear despite the northerly position.

[Andy01 (Andy)]

Amazing what can be found when wandering off the beaten track, well done!

[PKay (Peter)]

Superb capture Rodney.

There is wonderful depth and 3D quality.

Nice work

[vlazg (George)]

Fantastic capture Rodney, the nebula along with the cluster makes a very interesting field, a target for myself for next year, up here it should be in a better position

[Ryderscope (Rodney)]

Originally Posted by Placidus

The little open cluster makes it photographically. Stars look sharp and clear despite the northerly position.

Originally Posted by Andy01

Amazing what can be found when wandering off the beaten track, well done!

Originally Posted by PKay

Superb capture Rodney.

There is wonderful depth and 3D quality.

Nice work

Originally Posted by vlazg

Fantastic capture Rodney, the nebula along with the cluster makes a very interesting field, a target for myself for next year, up here it should be in a better position

Thanks all.

Well spotted MnT about the stars re: northerly position. I did find that the FWHM values were generally blown out some with this project. I put this down to the fact that I was imaging at lower altitudes than usual, sometimes down to 20d. Also, the northerly aspect from my observatory looks over a small gully to a ridge line and I suspect it may hold some moisture which could affect the seeing.

From your spot up north George it is definitely worth a shot. I started this project with 5 minute RGB subs and 20 minute Ha subs but should have really done 10 minute RGB and 30 minute Ha. I made up for it by taking extra subs though which seems to have worked out ok.