Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)
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SH2-106 Celestial Snow Angel, niteman1946
SH2-106 Celestial Snow Angel
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SH2-106 Celestial Snow Angel

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SH2-106 Celestial Snow Angel, niteman1946
SH2-106 Celestial Snow Angel
Powered byPixInsight

SH2-106 Celestial Snow Angel

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Description

Sh2-106, also known as the Celestial Snow Angel, is an emission nebula and a star formation region in the constellation Cygnus. It is a H II region estimated to be around 2,000 ly (600 pc) from Earth, in an isolated area of the Milky Way. 
In the center of the nebula is a young and massive star that emits jets of hot gas from its poles, forming the bipolar structure. Dust surrounding the star is also ionized by the star.
The nebula spans about 2 light-years across.  The central star, a source of infrared radiation, is usually referred to as S106 IR or S106 IRS 4.  It is a massive star, approximately 15 solar masses. Two jets of matter streaming from its poles heat surrounding matter to a temperature of around 10,000 °C. 
Dust that is not ionized by the star's jets reflect light from the star.
With an estimated surface temperature of 37,000K, it is classified as a type O8 star. It loses around 10−6 solar masses per year in solar winds, ejecting material at around 100 km/s.
Studies of images has revealed that the star-forming region has also created hundreds of low-mass brown dwarf stars and protostars.  [Source:  Wikipedia].

Capture Information:
The image was captured with the iOptron CEM120 mount, the venerable Meade 12"LX200 SCT OTA, and my QHYCCD QHY294m Pro mono CMOS camera at F7.16 (2182mm FL). 
Astronomik's Ha narrow band, and Red, Green and Blue broad band filters were used.

Image Information -- 2023
RED :  23 subs (1.92hr) on Sep 20th and 25th.
GRN :  22 subs (1.83hr) on Sep 23rd and 25th.
BLU :   21 subs (1.75hr) on Sep 23rd and 25th.
Ha   :   39 subs (3.25hr) on Sep 20th and 25th.
All exposures were at 5 minutes (300s) each, 1600 gain, 56 offset, 1x1 bin and -10C (more like -8C).

Processing was done with PixInsight, following (for the most part) Kayronjm's tutorial of Feb. 24th from several years back.
However, Ha was used to develop the Luminance image. R, G and B were collected for the color mix.
North is to the right (pretty sure), and this is a somewhat large crop due to the small size of the target. 

Comments:
While the plan is to create all subs at -10C, I'm finding that the summer heat is only allowing the temp to reach around -8C.

This is the 1st time I’ve run at this target.  

Due to the problems encountered with Starizona Micro Touch Autofocuser, I opted to buy their new controller rather than having the old one repaired.  It was not very expensive, and so far, the new one is working well.

ONE LAST THING:
The iOptron CEM120 mount RA excursions continue. I did center the mount’s  “bubble level” by working up from the pier base and re-adjusting on the way.  I followed that up by doing a new Drift Polar Alignment and Guiding Assistant with PHD2.
Unfortunately, the RA excursions were so bad on Sep 20 that I had to discard a bit over 50% of the Red.  Curiously, the Ha exposures were all usable.  And FWIW, the sessions on Sep 23 and 25, lost a very small number of subs.

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SH2-106 Celestial Snow Angel, niteman1946