A pink-red hydrogen cloud shaped like the North American continent, portrait view.
North America Nebula (NGC 7000), portrait · © Martin Hudec

Nebulae

North America Nebula (NGC 7000), portrait

A continent of gas, this time in a vertical frame.

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About the object

The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) in Cygnus lies about 2,600 light years away. Its shape is a coincidence – the 'Gulf of Mexico' is a dark lane of dust hiding part of the glowing hydrogen behind it.

How the image was made

Captured
3 October 2025 (start, several nights)
Total exposure
6 h 45 min (81 × 300 s)
Camera
ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Focal length
448 mm
Mount
ZWO AM5N
Location
Banská Bystrica, Slovakia (home observatory)
Calibration & stacking
Siril 1.4.0-beta4
Processing
Adobe Lightroom 8.5.1 (Windows)

Data from the original file’s metadata or from the author.