5,000 lightyears away and laying just West of the supergiant star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus is an often overlooked, small, but beautiful nebula. Designated with the inauspicious catalogue name Sh2-112, it emits brilliantly in ionized hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. Dark bands of dust in the foreground create depth and a sense of the power of what is lurking beyond.
During the late summer, I spent 25 hours of telescope time with my Planewave CDK17 telescope trying to wring out some of the detail from this beautiful object. I had some small guiding errors and other issues, but found it beautiful and worth sharing. This image portrays it in the SHO “Hubble” palette, bringing out a lot of the nuance of its structure. I will certainly revisit this area for a deeper and even sharper look at it when our summertime skies return again.
I hope you like it and have a great day!
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