More than astrophotography, an astronomical exploration.
Sh2-140 Core
David Cruz · Astromidnight
In Cepheus, the light of a hot blue star makes the hydrogen gas glow at the edge of the dark cloud LDN 1204. Hidden behind that luminous rim, very young stars are still being born.
| Catalogue | Sharpless, 1959 · LBN 505 |
| Type | Emission nebula and dark cloud |
| Distance | ≈ 3,000 light-years |
| Field | 48.5′ × 32.3′ |
| Real width | ≈ 41 × 28 light-years |
| Scale | 0.41″ / pixel |
| Orientation | 178° · south up |
| RA (centre) | 22h 19m 05s |
| DEC (centre) | +63° 18′ 37″ |
| Constellation | Cepheus |
| Objects in field | Sh2-140 · LDN 1204 · Pismis-Moreno 1 · S140 IRS 1 |
Distance of ≈ 900 pc (Crampton & Fisher 1974, via Kun et al. 2008), confirmed by the Gaia parallax of HD 211880 (≈ 907 pc); the cluster Pismis-Moreno 1 gives slightly more, ≈ 981 pc. The real width assumes 900 pc. Positions of Sh2-140, HD 211880 and HD 212365 taken from the AstroBin astrometric solution (that of the nebula is approximate); the rest from SIMBAD. LBN 505 is another name for Sh2-140 in SIMBAD, so it has no marker of its own.
29 h 10 min of light
Each tick is one exposure. 400 in total, with the camera at −10 °C and gain 100. Calibrated with 50 darks, 50 flats and 50 bias. The Moon stayed below 70 % illumination throughout.
Carbon Newton 10' f/4
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Sky-Watcher CQ350 Pro
Askar M54 OAG · ZWO ASI120MM Mini
TS-Optics Maxfield .95X Coma Corrector
Player One Anti-Halo Pro Dual-Band Ha+OIII Filter 2"
Adobe Photoshop · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)
São Pedro da Gafanhoeira, Évora · 358 m
Bortle 3