The Cygnus Wall, a segment of the North American Nebula (NGC 7000), is the region of the nebula with the most concentrated star formation.

Stephan Hamel’s capture of the stellar nursery in narrowband SHO garnered him Photo of the Week for September 27, 2019.

Imaged with an Explore Scientific 127mmm telescope, a ZWO 1600MM camera on an EQ6-R mount, the New Brunswick resident said he used Photoshop to edit his 12 hours total exposure.

He noted he took four hours of each filter: Ha (Baader 7mm), OIII (Astronomik 6nm) and SII (Orion 7nm).

“There is the figurehead (or ballerina) bravely riding high above the wall,” he pointed out.

As one of the judges noted, the image is a “great long exposure,” with “great detail and tasteful SHO (narrow band channel) mixing; technically superior.”