Photo of the Week for September 22, 2017
One of the lesser-known treasures found in Cygnus is the Cocoon Nebula, also known as IC5146. The nebula is a glowing cloud of hydrogen gas lit from within by a clutch of newborn stars. Visually, the Cocoon requires a narrow-band filter, a dark sky, and moderately sized optics to glimpse. However, a lane of dark nebulosity called Barnard 168, which stretches from the nebula to the bottom-right corner of the image, can be detected in binoculars.
Yanick Bouchard recorded this portrait of the Cocoon and B168 from the light-polluted environs of Mirabel, Quebec. He used a Celestron EdgeHD 925, 9¼-inch telescope with HyperStar (for a focal ratio of f/2.3) to capture a total of 198 minutes exposure with a ZWO ASI1600MC cooled colour CMOS camera.
