cygnus

The Beautiful “Gulf of Mexico”

James Guilford , , , , , , , , , , ,
Photo: four panel mosaic of an area called the "Gulf of Mexico" which is part of a much larger area of nebulosity called The North American Nebula or NGC7000. Image by Joe Golias
“Gulf of Mexico” Region of NGC7000

CAA member and local astronomy business owner Joe Golias has shared a new image with us that, well, all we can say about it is that it’s astounding! Here’s Joe’s description of how he produced his photograph of a region of NGC7000…

This was by far the most challenging imaging project I have attempted to date. It represents a four-panel mosaic of an area called the “Gulf of Mexico” which is part of a much larger area of nebulosity called The North American Nebula or NGC7000. This object is located in the constellation of Cygnus. This four-panel mosaic was acquired over a period of three weeks. Total exposure time was 56 hours. We’ve had a long stretch of clear skies here in Ohio which made this image possible.

Object: Gulf of Mexico | Telescope: Takahashi TOA 150 refractor | Telescope Mount: Losmandy G-11 | Camera: SBIG STT8300 with self-guiding filter wheel | Exposure: 56 hours of combined narrowband HA, OIII & SII filters | Location: “Astrozap Ridge,” Medina, Ohio. | Image processing: MaxIm DL, Images Plus, PixInsight, Photoshop CS6

A summer gem

James Guilford , ,

by Bill Murmann

Image: Star chart showing constellation Cygnus.
Constellation Cygnus with Albireo circled at the Swan's head. Image via Stellarium by James Guilford.

During the summer, one of the best colorful double stars is Albireo, the head of the “Swan” in the constellation Cygnus. “Double Stars” was the topic for the program at our monthly meeting on Monday, September 12, and Albireo is a great example. Albireo is 380 light years away; the pair of stars is designated “Albireo A” and “Albireo B.”

Albireo A is yellow star, slightly cooler than our Sun. It has a surface temperature estimated at 7,000 degrees F., compared to the Sun’s 9,000-degree F. surface temperature.

Its companion, Albireo B, is a hot, blue star with an estimated surface temperature of about 23,000 degrees F. It also rotates very fast — at about 560,000 MPH.

When we are looking at Albireo, we are actually seeing three stars. Albireo A is, itself, a close binary star. Most of us, however, can’t split this pair with our telescopes. It takes a minimum 20-inch telescope under really good sky conditions to split Albireo A. Paul Leopold with his 20-inch scope is probably the only CAA member who has a chance to see all three stars in Albireo.