How To Photograph The North America Nebula With A Telephoto Lens

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A few days ago, I had an excellent opportunity to photograph one of the best astrophotography targets on the Summer sky – the North America Nebula. 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).

At the time of writing this, I’m after a few more astro sessions, and this one is the latest one which I didn’t take calibration frames (darks, flats, and bias). Just recently I have learned about them, and since then I make them every time. I plan to write more about them in some of the next posts (Veil or Eagle Nebula).

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North America Nebula (NGC 7000) – August 2018

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

North America 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 interesting astrophotography targets next to itself (Pelican Nebula, IC 5068, Deneb, NGC 6991), so it’s even better to photograph it widefield.

North America Nebula Facts

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

Thanks to its closeness to the bright star, the nebula is very 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.