How to photograph the Sadr Region (IC 1318)
A sprawling hydrogen field around the star Sadr in the summer Milky Way.
Photo byGiuseppe Donatiello(CC0)
When to shoot it from your location
About the Sadr Region
The area around Sadr is filled with glowing hydrogen and dark lanes, with the Crescent Nebula nearby. It is a good wide-field target for 50-200mm lenses on a tracker.
Gear and framing
The Sadr Region spans about 4.0° of sky. It frames best with:
- Wide lens (14-50mm on a camera)
- Telephoto (85-300mm lens)
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
- A dual-band clip-in filter for your camera turns this region red and detailed even from suburbs.
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.