Waid Observatory

Object: IC1318 (b & c) - The Butterfly Nebula
Date: June 5-9-11, 2017    -    Location: Fort Davis, Texas
Telescope: Stellarvue SV102ED  -  Camera: ST-8300   
Exposure: SII = 200 min. - Ha = 180 min. - OIII = 260 min.
Click on the image to view at higher resolution.
IC1318

IC1318 (b & c) - The Butterfly Nebula in Cygnus 1

IC1318 is a very large cloud of dust and gas in the constellation Cygnus the Swan.  A section of this giant complex is known as the Butterfly Nebula and is composed of three separate designated areas.  The wings of the Butterfly are identified as IC1318 "b" and "c".  The dark obscuring dust band bisecting the "wings" forms the body of the Butterfly and is designated LDN 889.  The distance to the nebula is approximately 5,000 light years.

The image above is known as a mapped, or false, color image and was acquired using narrowband filters.  It was assembled using the standard Hubble palette with SII mapped to red, Ha mapped to green and OIII mapped to blue.

1 http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/IC1318text.html

 
Copyright Donald P. Waid