How to photograph the North America & Pelican Nebulae (NGC 7000)
A huge hydrogen cloud shaped like the North American continent.
Photo byGiuseppe Donatiello(CC0)
When to shoot it from your location
About the North America & Pelican Nebulae
This nebula is too large and faint to see by eye. It shows up clearly in a camera, especially through a dual-band filter. At 135-300mm the North America and Pelican nebulae frame together.
Gear and framing
The North America & Pelican Nebulae spans about 2.0° of sky. It frames best with:
- Telephoto (85-300mm lens)
- Small refractor (250-600mm)
You can see how other people have built their rigs on RigDesigner, including my Sony a6700 and 60mm refractor rig.
Filters
This target glows in hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III light. A dual-band filter, or separate narrowband filters with a mono camera, lets that light through and blocks most light pollution and moonlight. It is a good choice for city skies and for nights with the Moon up.
Tips
- One of the best dual-band targets for light-polluted skies or bright Moon nights.
- A modified (astro) camera records far more of its red hydrogen glow than a stock camera.
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.