North America Nebula - How to Photograph With a Telephoto Lens

A few days ago, I had an excellent opportunity to photograph one of the best astrophotography targets on the Fall/Autumn sky - the North America Nebula (NGC 7000). Thanks to great weather (no clouds, no wind, a pleasant temperature at night) and temporarily having access to a backyard 24h/day (I usually live in a flat), I was finally able to push my mobile widefield astrophotography rig to its limits (check out my previous post about Andromeda Galaxy, some pictures from it come from the same session).

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North America Nebula Facts
How To Find North America Nebula on the Night Sky
How To Photograph The North America Nebula With DSLR or mirrorless camera
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At the time of writing this, I'm after a few more astro sessions, and this one is the latest one in which I didn't take calibration frames (darks, flats, and bias). I have recently learned about them, and since then, I have done them every time. I plan to write more about them in the following posts (Veil or Eagle Nebula).

North America Nebula Facts

North America Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, near Deneb star. Nebula's shape resembles the North American continent, and it's often called - incorrectly - as North American Nebula.

The nebula is one of the best targets for beginner astrophotographers. It's big, bright, and high in the sky (usually). Also, it is easy to locate thanks to the nearby bright star, Deneb. Moreover, you don't need a telescope to photograph it - the nebula is large and has many exciting astrophotography targets next to itself (Pelican Nebula, IC 5068, Deneb, NGC 6991). Hence, it's even better to photograph it widefield.

Different names	NGC 7000, Caldwell 20
Right ascension	20h 59m 17.1s
Declination	+44° 31′ 44″
Magnitude	4
Size	120×100 arcmin

How To Find North America Nebula on the Night Sky

How to find North America Nebula map (location) — Quickly locate the North America Nebula by finding the Summer Triangle and then Deneb. The nebula is just next to it.

Thanks to its closeness to the bright star, the nebula is easy to find. First, locate the Summer Triangle asterism. Second, point your telephoto lens at Deneb and take a test shot. You will see nebulosity even on an unprocessed photo straight on the camera display preview.