20/07/2026
In the Heart of Cygnus
One of the richest regions of the northern Milky Way, centered on the Sadr Region.
Scattered across this field are the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) in the middle, the Gamma Cygni Nebula (IC 1318) surrounding Sadr, the Tulip Nebula (Sh2-101), and several star clusters, all embedded within an intricate network of hydrogen emission and faint interstellar dust.
Hidden somewhere within the field is WR 134, a faint nebula surrounding a Wolf–Rayet star.
This image was captured in Sparti, Greece, on top of Mount Parnon, during the 18th Greek National Star Party on July 11, 2026, under Bortle 3 skies.
Acquisition
• 71 × 120s lights (142 minutes total integration)
• 15 × 120s darks
• 20 flats
• 20 bias frames
Processing
• Stacked in Siril
• Processed in Siril using BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, StarXTerminator, VeraLux Hypermetric Stretch, VeraLux Vectra, and Syqon’s Parallax
• Starless and star layers were recombined in Adobe Photoshop for the final adjustments
Equipment
Camera: Sony A7 III (stock / unmodified)
Lens: Samyang 135mm f/1.8 @ f/2.8
Mount: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Filter: None
Guiding: Unguided
Acquisition Software: N.I.N.A.
This definitely isn’t a fully natural image. While the colors in this region are real, they are extremely faint. I used several intricate processing techniques to amplify them. That doesn’t mean the image isn’t real—it simply means my artistic choices were strong with this one.
✨ Clear skies.
P.S. huge thanks to the person who loaned me a Dew Heater band, he saved me, I wouldn’t have any images if it wasn’t for him.
Sky-Watcher Planitario Thessalonikis
