How to photograph the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177)
A huge winged hydrogen cloud between Sirius and Procyon.
Photo byESO(CC BY 4.0)
When to shoot it from your location
About the Seagull Nebula
The Seagull’s wings stretch over two degrees, which suits a 200-400mm setup. A dual-band filter brings out its structure from suburban skies.
Gear and framing
The Seagull Nebula 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
- Image it when it is due south, since it never gets very high for northern observers.
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.