NGC6997 Open Cluster in Cygnus SHO Narrowband Palette
Friday, May 22nd, 2026 at 1:28:20 PM · 2026/Astrophotography
This is a deep-sky narrowband image of NGC6997, an open star cluster embedded within the rich emission nebulosity of the Cygnus region of the Milky Way, processed using the Hubble SHO palette (SII=red, Ha=green, OIII=blue). The image reveals sweeping curtains of ionized sulfur (rendered in fiery orange-red), hydrogen-alpha emission, and oxygen III gas (teal-blue tones), creating a dramatic interstellar cloudscape punctuated by hundreds of stars. Dark dust lanes slash diagonally across the lower portion of the frame, silhouetted against the glowing nebular background, adding striking depth and contrast. The image represents 2.1 hours of total integration time combining SII, Ha, OIII, luminance, and RGB sub-exposures captured with a TMB-92 APO refractor and ZWO ASI533MM Pro monochrome camera, processed in Python with Syqon Starless AI star removal. The composition showcases exceptional dynamic range and fine nebular detail across a 92.6×92.6 arcminute field of view at 1.85 arcsec/pixel image scale.
Chronologically Adjacent
