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IC 5070 (Hα) – Pelican Nebula

IC 5070, known as the Pelican Nebula, is an emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. It has an apparent size of about 60 × 50 arcminutes and combines ionized hydrogen emission with dark interstellar dust structures. Ultraviolet radiation from young massive stars ionizes the gas and creates bright rims, while stellar winds shape the nebula and give it its intricate structure. Within this region, numerous Herbig-Haro objects can be found—small nebulosities created by the impact of gas jets from young stars with the surrounding material—revealing intense star formation activity.

General information

Constellation
Cygnus
Category
Nebulae
Date
25 August 2023

Capture

Total time
1h 55min
Subframes
300s (Ha: 23x) bin1
Gain / Offset
125 / 30
Calibration
50 dark frames, 50 flat frames and 50 dark-flat frames, without bias frames

Equipment

Telescope
TS102 f/5.6
Camera
ZWO ASI294MM at -10ºC
Filters
Ha Astronomik, 6 nm
Mount
Sky-Watcher HEQ-5 Pro belt drive
Guiding
60mm f/4 + ASI224MC

Processing and environment

Processing
Stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.8.9-3
Acquisition
NINA
Location
l'Ampolla, Tarragona
Sky
Bortle 4

Additional versions

Close-up of IC 5070 in HαCrop of the main nebular region in narrowband Hα, showing the ionized gas structures and dark dust lanes in greater detail.
Close-up of the Herbig-Haro regionCrop focused on an area of the nebula where structures associated with Herbig-Haro objects and active star formation processes can be identified.