The Butterfly Nebula and Sadr Region

A large diffuse nebula, roughly in the shape of a butterfly, with the bright star Sadr in the left half of the frame with the smaller cluster, NGC6910.

The Butterfly Nebula, IC1318, is a diffuse emission nebula that is part of a larger region of gas and dust around the star Sadr (seen here, in the left of the frame) that forms the creatively named Sadr Region. It’s part of the deep-sky richness that is the constellation Cygnus. Just off-center at the bottom of the frame is NGC6910, an open cluster.

This is first light from my new QHYCCD QHY268C camera. With a cooled camera — and the sensor in this one in particular — I’ve taken Topaz Photo AI out of the workflow for noise control. There’s just not that much noise at all.

Session	Exposure	Gain	Offset	Frames	Integration time
2023-08-11	60s	56	25	75	1h 15m

Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm f/7 ED Triplet Refractor w/ 0.8x Reducer/Flattener
Mount: Losmandy GM-8 German Equatorial Mount, Gemini 2, Losmandy FLW Tripod
Camera: QHYCCD QHY268C
Filters: Optolong UV / IR Cut Filter
Guider: Orion StarShoot Autoguider
Accessories: ZWO EAF Electronic Automatic Focuser, iOptron iPolar
Software: N.I.N.A., PHD2 Guiding, SkySafari Pro, AstroPixelProcessor, Capture One