{"id":56579,"date":"2024-03-28T15:07:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T15:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/f37a6d1d-3c07-4c74-ab89-72c1bd8cdb8d"},"modified":"2024-03-28T16:08:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T16:08:32","slug":"north-america-nebula-complete-guide","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/north-america-nebula-complete-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"North America Nebula complete guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Images of the North America Nebula and facts about this continent-shaped cosmic cloud. <\/p>

By Iain Todd\n <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 28 March 2024 at 15:07 PM<\/p>

\n\n

NGC 7000 is known as the North America Nebula due to its similarity in shape to the geographical outline of its namesake continent.<\/p>

The North America Nebula is an emission nebula<\/a> found in the Cygnus constellation, glowing due to the ionisation of interstellar gas caused by radiation being emitted by hot, young stars<\/a>.<\/p>

NGC 7000 is located 1,700 lightyears away and measures 100 lightyears across.<\/p>

It is often pictured alongside IC 5070, a fellow emission nebula nicknamed the Pelican Nebula.<\/p>

North America and Pelican Nebulae Srinivasan Ananthachari, Abudhabi and Razeen desert, Abu Dhabi, August\u2013October 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED apo refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6R Pro mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The North America Nebula was first observed by astronomer William Herschel<\/a> in October 1786, and today it is a firm favourite of northern hemisphere observers.<\/p>

Of all the nebulae that are named after objects they resemble – like the Cat’s Paw Nebula<\/a>, the Rosette Nebula<\/a>, the Pacman Nebula<\/a> etc. – the North America Nebula is among those that most lives up to its nickname.<\/p>

And considering there is also a California Nebula<\/a>, it’s a pity for astronomers in the US that there isn’t a nebula named for each of the other 49 states!<\/p>

And this is something to note. You may often see NGC 7000 erroneously named the ‘North American Nebula’, but this is incorrect!<\/p>

It’s the North America Nebula, because it is shaped like North America, not because it belongs to North America!<\/p>

\"A
A view of the North America Nebula captured by the Palomar Observatory’s 48-inch (1.2 meter) Samuel Oschin Telescope. Credit: Davide De Martin (ESA\/Hubble), the ESA\/ESO\/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator & Digitized Sky Survey 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>

How to see the North America Nebula<\/strong><\/h2>

The North America Nebula is located in constellation Cygnus, and you can easily find it by locating the three stars of the Summer Triangle asterism.<\/p>

Viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, the leftmost star in the Summer Triangle is Deneb, in Cygnus.<\/p>

And if you observe under very dark skies when your eyes have adapted to the darkness, to the left of Deneb you should be able to spot a large smudge about four times as wide as the Moon.<\/p>

This is the North America Nebula. Observe it through a telescope and you’ll see that it does indeed resemble the continent of North America.<\/p>

Images<\/strong><\/h2>

Below is a selection of images of the North America Nebula captured by BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/em> readers and astrophotographers from around the world.<\/p>

For more info on photographing nebulae, read our deep-sky astrophotography<\/a> guide or learn how to fine-tune your nebula images with our tutorial on deep-sky image processing<\/a>.<\/p>

And don’t forget to send us you images<\/a> or share them with us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>

\"The
The North America Nebula, by Christopher Kelly-Brown, Strabane, Northern Ireland, 31 May 2022.Equipment: Nikon D5300 camera, Soligor 135mm lens at f\/5.6, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The North America and Pelican Nebulae, by Richard Guest, Kingswinford, UK, 30 April – 15 June 2022.Equipment: ZWO ASI 2600MC camera, Celestron Evolution 8HD Edge, Hyperstar lens, IDAS NBZ high speed boost filter.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"The
The North America NebulaClem Fischer, Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, 30 April 2022Equipment: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, William Optics FLT91 refractor, Sky-Watcher EQM-35 Pro mount<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"A<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America and Pelican Nebulae Srinivasan Ananthachari, Abudhabi and Razeen desert, Abu Dhabi, August\u2013October 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro camera, Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED apo refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6R Pro mount<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America and Pelican Nebulae Neil Wyatt, Branston, Staffordshire, 20 and 21 July 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro mono camera, Sky-Watcher 130PDS Newtonian, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America Nebula and Pelican NebulaePaul Moyers, Merseyside, 29 November 2019Equipment: Canon EOS 1200D DSLR, Altair Astro 60 EDF refractor, Skywatcher Star Adventurer mount<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America and Pelican Nebulae, Jenny King, Kent, 25 August\u20138 September 2019Equipment: QSI 690 CCD camera, TS Optics TSQ-71ED quadruplet flatfield refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6 mount<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The North America Nebula Paul Gordon, Rochford, 22 July 2019. Equipment: Canon EOS 60Da DSLR camera, Borg 77EDII refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro SynScan mount.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The North America NebulaReza Hakimi, Moomej, Iran, 10, 11 July 2018Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM-C camera, Canon EF 200mm f\/2.8 lens<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The North America Nebula Emil Andronic, Pontarfynach, Bushey, 5, 18 \u2013 20 April 2019. Equipment: Canon EOS 700D DSLR camera, Samyang 135mm lens, Sky-Watcher EQ3 GoTo mount.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America Nebula Simon Hudson, May 2019, Cornwall. Equipment: QHY9S CCD, Lacerta 200\/800 reflector, Celestron CGX mount.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"NGC
NGC 7000 by Chris Heapy, Macclesfield, UK. Equipment: Televue NP127is, Moravian G4-16000, 10-Micron GM2000HPS-II, Chroma 3nM, Ha, OIII, SII<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America Nebula by James Robertson, UK. Equipment: Canon 750d modified, Skywatcher Esprit 80ed, Celestron AVX mount<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America and Pelican Nebulae by Jeff Tobak, London, UK. Equipment: WO ZS 71, Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro, Atik 383L , Orion autoguider, SharpSky, PhD.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America Nebula (section of) and Cygnus Wall – NGC7000 by Alastair Woodward, Derby, UK. Equipment: Skywatcher 6″ Newtonian, EQ3-2 mount with RA DEC motors, Unmodded Canon 350d, CLS clip filter, DSS for stacking<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"NGC<\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"NGC
NGC 7000 The Cygnus Wall by Chris Heapy, Macclesfield, UK. Equipment: TeleVue NP127is, 0.8x reducer,Losmandy G11, Gemini L.4, Atik490EX, TeleVue Pronto, Lodestar<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"NGC7000
NGC7000 North America Nebula by Mark Griffith, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. Equipment: Telescope service 8″ Boren simon power newtonian, Skywatcher NEQ6 pro mount,Atik 383L camera, motorised filter wheel and Astronomik filters.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America and Pelican by Lee Housden, Essex, UK. Equipment: Celestron CPC 800, SkyWatcher 80mm Apo, QHY10 OSC.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The Cosmic Continent byTerry Hancock, Fremont, Michigan, UK. Equipment: Takahashi E-180 F2.8 Astrograph, Rainbow Astro RST-400 EQ Mount, QHY11 mono CCD, Optec Gemini Focusing Rotator.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
\"North
North America and Pelican Nebulae by Kevin Gurney, Port Punay, nr La Rochelle, France. Equipment: William Optics Star 71, Canon 600D (modified), Astrotrac TT320X-AG with pier, wedge and counterweight, IDAS LPS D1 filter<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>