Stellar Shot of the Week

Jeff Reitzel caught this incredible shot of the Cocoon Nebula (IC 1546) in Cygnus with his SVX102T. This reflection/emission nebula is located approximately 2,500 light-years away from Earth and spans about 15 light-years across. Intertwined with this nebula is dark nebula Barnard 168 which projects westward, creating the appearance of a trail behind the Cocoon.

According to Jeff:

“This is IC 5146 The Cocoon Nebula with nearby dark dust complex Barnard 168. This nebula is seen near the edge of the Constellation Cygnus and located 2,500 light-years away. It appears almost like a bright pink comet with a long dust tail against a backdrop of reddish hydrogen gas in this image. This nebula and dust complex are home to some of the youngest stellar objects found so far by the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Telescope.”

“This image was captured by me throughout the month of July while travelling to various dark sky areas in Southern Idaho, USA. It is 40 hrs total integration using my Stellarvue SVX102T telescope with SFFR.74-102T Reducer Flattener. Other equipment used is QHY268M Camera, Astronomik filters (Ha, Luminance, Deep Sky RGB), and CEM40EC mount.”

Other Designations: Cocoon Nebula, Caldwell 19, Sh 2-125, Cr 470, Barnard 168.

Details:

Telescope: Stellarvue SVX102T

Camera: QHYCCD QHY268 M

Mount: iOptron CEM40EC

Filters:

• Astronomik Deep-Sky Blue 36mm
• Astronomik Deep-Sky Green 36mm
• Astronomik Deep-Sky Red 36mm
• Astronomik H-alpha CCD 6nm 36mm
• Astronomik L-3 Luminance UV/IR Block 36 mm

Accessories:

• QHYCCD QHYCFW3-M
• QHYCCD QHYOAG-M

Stellarvue SFFR.74-102T Reducer Flattener

Software:

• Adobe Photoshop
• Open PHD Guiding Project PHD2
• Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
• Software Bisque TheSkyX Imaging Bundle
• Starkeeper Voyager Advanced

*For more details and an in-depth look at this image, visit Jeff’s AstroBin.

References:

Wikipedia contributors. (2025, May 13). IC 5146. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_5146