The Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) located approximately 1,800 light years away, is a large area of emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus resembling a pelican giving rise to its name, close to the star Deneb.
It's divided from its brighter, larger neighbour NGC7000 The North America Nebula, by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust.
The Pelican is much studied because it has a highly active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds.
It was discovered by William Herschel in 1786.
The complete nebulae is shown as follows:
Equipment:
- Vixen AX103S 103mm f/8.0 ED Apochromatic Refractor telescope.
- Avalon Linear Fast Reverse Mount.
- QSI 683 CCD camera, Kodak KAF-8300 8.3 mega-pixel sensor cooled to -25 °C.
- Astronomik L-RGB, Astrodon 5nm Ha and Astrodon 3nm Oiii filters.
Image exposure (11 hours in total):
- 18 x 20min Ha.
- 15 x 20min Oiii.
