The Cocoon Nebula (IC 5146) is a striking combination of emission, reflection, and dark nebulosity in the constellation Cygnus, sitting at the tip of a long dark dust lane (Barnard 168) that trails away from it across the sky.
Click the image to zoom in (4 steps), then again for full view · hover to see it annotated · open full resolutionAnnotated image · click to zoom in (4 steps), then again for full view · open full resolutionSky location chart · click to zoom in (4 steps), then again for full view · open full resolution
The Cocoon Nebula (IC 5146) is a striking combination of emission, reflection, and dark nebulosity in the constellation Cygnus, sitting at the tip of a long dark dust lane (Barnard 168) that trails away from it across the sky. It surrounds and illuminates the young open cluster Collinder 470, whose stars are only about a million years old. Distance estimates vary by method: recent Gaia-based studies of its member stars suggest roughly 2,500-2,600 light-years, while older references commonly cite around 4,000 light-years; the nebula itself spans roughly 15 light-years. Photographically it offers strong contrast between a reddish emission core, delicate blue reflection haze around embedded stars, and the dark, star-obscuring dust that borders it, making it rewarding for both broadband color and Hα narrowband imaging, especially framed together with the trailing dark filaments of B168.
[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_5146]
Annotated Image
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Sky Location
The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.
Image Details
| Moon Phase: | New Moon |
|---|---|
| Camera: | Seestar S30 Pro (4K Sony IMX585 sensor) |
| Optics: | 160 mm focal length, f/5.3, 30 mm aperture (APO quadruplet) |
| Filter: | LP |
| Binning: | 1x1 |
| Stacking: | StackingWizard, 144 of 176 frames stacked |
| Date: | 2026-10-10 |
| Number of images: | 144 |
| Exposure per image: | 60 s |
| Total imaging time: | 2 h 24 min |
AstroWizard Processing
- Crop (x2)
- GraXpert background extraction (0.5)
- True-color mapping (x2)
- Color calibration
- BlurXTerminator (0.6)
- NoiseXTerminator (linear, 0.6)
- NoiseXTerminator (linear, 0.9)
- Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x2)
- Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (linear) (x2)
- Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (linear) (starless)
- Star removal (StarXTerminator)
- Darken background
- Saturation adjustment
- Contrast (pop) adjustment (x2)
- Curves adjustment
- Star recombination (screen blend)
- Color recalibration
- NoiseXTerminator (non-linear, 0.6)
