IC 1318, commonly called the Gamma Cygni Nebula or the Sadr Region, is a large emission (HII) nebula in Cygnus surrounding the bright star Sadr (Gamma Cygni) as seen in projection, though the two are not physically associated: Sadr itself lies roughly 1,800 light-years away, while the nebula is much farther, at around 4,900 light-years.
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
IC 1318, commonly called the Gamma Cygni Nebula or the Sadr Region, is a large emission (HII) nebula in Cygnus surrounding the bright star Sadr (Gamma Cygni) as seen in projection, though the two are not physically associated: Sadr itself lies roughly 1,800 light-years away, while the nebula is much farther, at around 4,900 light-years. The nebula is ionized by a hot, heavily obscured O-type star and spans over 100 light-years, laced throughout with dark dust lanes and nebulae that give it a mottled, textured appearance. It sits in a particularly rich part of the Cygnus Milky Way, near other notable emission nebulae including the Butterfly Nebula and the Crescent Nebula. Hα, O III, and S II narrowband filters all work well here, revealing intricate structure that is largely invisible in broadband images.
[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_1318]
Annotated Image
The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.
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: | Full 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, 204 of 395 frames stacked |
| Date: | 2026-10-25 |
| Number of images: | 204 |
| Exposure per image: | 60 s |
| Total imaging time: | 3 h 24 min |
AstroWizard Processing
- GraXpert background extraction (0.5)
- Color calibration
- True-color mapping
- BlurXTerminator (0.6)
- NoiseXTerminator (linear, 0.9)
- Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x3)
- Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (linear)
- Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (starless)
- Star removal (StarXTerminator)
- Darken background
- Saturation adjustment
- Curves adjustment (x4)
- Contrast (pop) adjustment
- Star recombination (screen blend)
- NoiseXTerminator (non-linear, 0.6)
