IC 1318: is a large complex of diffuse nebulae observable in the constellation Cygnus; it is part of the large Cygnus molecular nebulous complex, one of the largest and most massive nebulous areas in our Galaxy.
The complex is made up of several nebulous areas, often crossed by dark nebulae, more or less surrounding the star Sadr and more or less detached from each other, to the point that they have been classified as separate nebulae: they are in fact numbered from IC 1318a up to IC 1318e, going from west to east.The most intense part that can be directly observed is precisely the section of IC 1318 visible near the dark band LDN 889; the westernmost parts appear more rarefied and filamentous, which would suggest that this part was actually formed by one or more supernova explosions. In the same area of ​​sky a large number of objects are observed, such as the Crescent Nebula and the Butterfly Nebula, plus some open clusters, the most famous of which is M29. IC 1318 includes this and other nebulae, plus the cluster NGC 6910.  https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_1318
"New observations are presented of the dark cloud between the emission nebulae IC 1318b and c in Cygnus. The H2CO- and H I-absorption lines and the H 110-alpha emission line, together with data from the literature are used to elaborate on the nature of the dark cloud. It is concluded that this dark cloud is the left-over of a much larger one, where star formation has ceased and where the dark cloud is being dissolved by an OB association, which is outlined by H II regions in the same line of sight. The age of the dark cloud must therefore be quite high (more than 100-million yr). Assuming that chemical equilibrium has been reached, the cloud would probably offer interesting possibilities for the observation of complex molecules. It is also suggested that the dark cloud may be the gamma-ray source CG0 78+01.  The Cygnus X region. XIII."
The dark cloud between IC 1318b and c. Wendker, H. J. ; Schramm, K. J. ; Dieckvoss, C. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1983A%26A...121...69W/abstract

Sadr/γ Cygni/γ Cyg: it is the second brightest star in the constellation Cygnus, after Deneb (α Cyg). Located at the center of the asterism known as the Northern Cross, it has an apparent magnitude of +2.23. Its name derives from the Arabic صدر şadr, "bust", from which the name of the star Shedir (α Cassiopeiae) also derives. It is almost 1800 light years away from the solar system. However, Sadr is not part of the nebulous complex, since it is located at an intermediate distance compared to that of the nebula and therefore appears in the foreground of it.
Sadr is a yellow supergiant star of spectral class F8 Ib (surface temperature 6100 K), with a luminosity 33,000 times that of the Sun and a mass equal to 12 solar masses, which is why it is believed that the star will explode in a supernova (perhaps type II) at the end of its existence. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadr

NGC 6910 is an open cluster in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 17, 1786. The cluster was also observed by John Herschel on September 18, 1828. It is a poor cluster with prominent central concentration and Trumpler class I2p. NGC 6910 is the core cluster of the stellar association Cygnus OB9.
The open cluster NGC 6910, which appears in the same field of view, is located at an even greater distance than the nebula and the star. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_6910#
"...the age of NGC  6910 is less than 7 • 10® years, which confirms Shevchenko (1989) and Davies and Tovmassian (1963) conclusions that this open cluster is extremely young and is geneologically  re-lated with the emission nebulae surrounding it almost symmetrically. It can be also stated that this star formation area has  no physical relation with the complex of North America and Pelican because their distances differ considerably (Straizys  et  al.,  1989)."
Photoelectric Vilnius Photometry in the Direction of the Open Cluster NGC 6910. V. Vansevičius. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/astro-1992-0106/html

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Maurizio carried out 16 image acquisition sessions in this project between July-September 2022-2023. Most of the sessions were carried out in the backyard and only two of them at a mountain site in the Alps, near Bognanco-Domodossola at 1140 meters above sea level.

The sessions carried out with the L-Pro filter to obtain the star base were defective, apparently there was a collimation problem and I had to discard them. In one night he did two sessions and I had to discard one of them since he changed the frame position, that let a 'band' problem in the final stack result.

The star base was obtained by making a selection of the best frames in FWHM and roundness made in the Alps and the city with the Triad Ultra filter. Due to the problem of coma in the angles, I used a program called StarTool that I am learning to use and it helped to arrange the stars in the angles of the frame.

A normal first stack was made of the sessions in both DSS and Siril, in addition to the usual extraction of Ha and [OIII]. It cleaned both extractions of the spikes left by the luminous stars (a real pain) when using StarXterminator especially from the main star 37 y Cygni.

Several techniques were used in data processing, Steve's 'Entering Into Space' proposal in PI I adapted in some way in Ps, although was  not easy, a result was achieved. What Steve applied is very reminiscent of the one used by Thomas Edward Christian, AstroEd's (which I also used) when he uses the masks on each channel where he preserves the signal of that band and then it is colored approximately and to suit the broadcast of that band. The difference is that Steve tries to 'avoid' the green coloring of the Ha by taking it directly to 'gold' by coloring it orange. This method probably saves one or two steps in applying and fine-tuning the Hubble palette.

After many attempts this image is quite close to the desired result, but not definitive. There are several aspects that I would like to refine to achieve this, but that would mean starting all over again and after having done more than fifteen processes, I think it is necessary to take a break.

Working on this 'small area' of the IC 1318 region that looks into the interior of our galaxy has been quite an adventure. Observing the chaos, the filaments of dust that extend like columns or that intertwine in the midst of the convulsion of gases, the expulsion of others by incomprehensible forces is wonderful and shocking. It also gives us an open cluster content like the NGC 6910 which, together with the impressive star γ Cygni, plays a nice trick in perspective.

We hope that you like this version of the Butterfly Nebula and friends, and appreciate your visit.
Have Clear Skies everyone.

Processed May-June 2024

https://x.com/AstroOtus/status/1799381057491357770