The Cygnus Wall in the southern part of the North American Nebula (NGC 7000). This is an ionisation front where UV light from hot young stars is transforming the cold gas of interstellar space into a ‘wall’ of ionised hydrogen. The Hα emission line is colour mapped onto yellow, gold and brown in the image.
Right ascension: 20h 58m 50s | Declination: +43° 36′ 39″ | Distance: 1,800 Light Years
Field of view: 57 x 38 arcmin
Camera: SBIG ST-10XME
Telescope: William Optics Megrez 120 F/7.5
Guiding: Starlight Xpress Active Optics (SXV-AO-LF) unit
Filters: Baader Ha (7nm), OIII (8.5nm), SII (8nm)
Exposures: Ha 12 x 10 min; OIII 24 x 10 min; SII 24 x 10min
Total exposure: 10 hours
Image composition: Colour Mapped Narrowband Ha:SII:Ha:OIII
Scale: 1.56 arcsec/pixel
Image acquired: July & August 2012 from Bristol (UK)
Image capture with MaxIm DL, FocusMax, ACP; Image processed with MaxIm DL, Photoshop CS4