A tiny blue shell floats inside a busy red nebular field, giving the image an immediate focal point.
- What am I looking at?
- The Bubble Nebula is a sphere of gas blown by the intense stellar wind of a hot central star.
- How far away is it?
- About 7,100 light-years away.
- Where is it in the sky?
- In Cassiopeia, near the open cluster M52.
- Why does it matter?
- A striking example of how a single massive star can carve a bubble in interstellar gas.
- When is the best time to photograph it?
- Autumn when Cassiopeia is high.
Capture summary
Nebula in Cassiopeia
Ha, OIII, SII
Ha, OIII, SII
Autumn target / wide composition
- Optolong L-eNhance 2 2h 55m 35 x 300s
- Optolong L-eXtreme 2 5h 40m 34 x 600s
- Totals 8h 35m
Same target, different years.
Older revisions stay in the archive so you can see how the target changed with different equipment, processing, and experience.
When to image this target
Nebula in Cassiopeia; best planned for September through November from New Jersey.
Autumn is a strong window for Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and late Cygnus fields.
Assumes a New Jersey backyard horizon and evening imaging.
Emission nebulae are good candidates for narrowband filters; reflection nebulae prefer darker skies.
NGC 7635 is listed here in Cassiopeia.
Current frame: Narrowband / Ha, OIII, SII.
Live altitude, moon, and filter guidance
Calculating target altitude and moon context.
Use the full planner to enter a ZIP code, choose a date, and compare the target from your sky.
Based on the current time.
Green marks usable dark-sky altitude.
Next upper transit.
Approximate horizon crossing.
Moon phase and altitude.
Acquisition & processing notes
Filter channels, integration times, and capture dates for this frame. View on AstroBin.
- Optolong L-eNhance 2 35 x 300s, 2h 55m
- Optolong L-eXtreme 2 34 x 600s, 5h 40m
- Totals 8h 35m
Field notes for this target.
Browse all capture notesHow I captured this
| Channel | Frames | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Optolong L-eNhance 2 | 35 x 300s | 2h 55m |
| Optolong L-eXtreme 2 | 34 x 600s | 5h 40m |
| Totals | — | 8h 35m |
- Equipment used
- From my current rig
- Mount
- iOptron CEM60
- Telescope
- Explore Scientific FCD100 127mm Carbon Fiber Triplet APO
- Camera
- ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
- Filters
- Chroma 36mm Ha, OIII, SII, and LRGB (ZWO EFW 7×36mm)
- Focuser / rotator
- MoonLite NiteCrawler
- Reducer
- Starizona Apex ED 0.65×
- Guiding
- ZWO off-axis guider + ASI290MM Mini
- Control / power
- PrimaLuceLab Eagle 4S, Powerwerx PSU, Bioenno field battery, and MEGAbox
