Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Astrophotos: A Wide Angle “Trilogy” of the North America Nebula

A colorful, wide view of the North American Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) in Cygnus. This three-panel mosaic spanning an area approximately 2.5 x 5.5 degrees, captured using QHY11/TAK E180 presented here in H-Alpha, Hubble Palette and RGB with H-Alpha. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.

A perfect set of astrophotos for #WideAngleWednesday! Here are not one but three views of the North America Nebula taken by Terry Hancock. Terry said this is his widest view yet of this region. Also known as NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20, this is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus that resembles the shape of North America and The Gulf Of Mexico. It lies at a distance of approximately 1800 light years away from Earth.

Terry presents a “trilogy” of three different color processes (see below). He took imagery in both July and September 2014 with a total exposure time of 13.9 hours from his Down Under Observatory in Fremont, Michigan.

For more details about the processing for each image, click on the images. To see more of Terry’s great work, see his website, Facebook, Flickr, or G+.

A wide, three-panel mosaic spanning an area approximately 2.5 x 5.5 degrees of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20), in H-Alpha, Hubble Palette and RGB with H-Alpha. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.
A wide, three-panel mosaic spanning an area approximately 2.5 x 5.5 degrees of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20), in H-Alpha, Hubble Palette and RGB with H-Alpha. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.
Another version of the 3-panel, wide angle view of the North America Nebula. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.
Another version of the 3-panel, wide angle view of the North America Nebula. Credit and copyright: Terry Hancock.

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