How to photograph the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023)
A blue flower of reflection nebula surrounded by dark dust.
Photo byAndreigusan(CC BY-SA 4.0)
When to shoot it from your location
About the Iris Nebula
The Iris is a blue reflection nebula wrapped in brown and black dust clouds. The dust is faint, so it needs dark, moonless skies and long integration.
Gear and framing
The Iris Nebula spans about 18′ of sky. It frames best with:
- Small refractor (250-600mm)
- Long focal length (800mm and up)
You can see how other people have built their rigs on RigDesigner, including my Sony a6700 and 60mm refractor rig.
Filters
This is a broadband target, which means its light is mostly starlight across the whole spectrum. Shoot it with no filter or a UV/IR cut filter. A broadband light pollution filter can help a little in the suburbs. Dual-band and narrowband filters block most of its light, so leave them off. Plan it for a moonless night at a dark site.
Tips
- Shoot it without a narrowband filter, which would block almost all of its light.
Processing
Stack your light frames with darks and flats, then remove the background gradient before stretching. AstroBake does all of this for you. Point it at your folders of raw frames, then adjust the result with live sliders.