NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, some 5,000 light-years away.
The striking gas bubble is shaped by the powerful stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136. As the rapidly outflowing material encounters older matter ejected by the star, it creates the nebula’s characteristic shell-and-filament structure. NGC 6888 spans around 25 light-years and provides a striking illustration of the interaction between a massive star and its surroundings.
| Image data | |
|---|---|
| Object | NGC 6888 / Crescent Nebula |
| Distance | 5,000 light-years |
| Date | 13.08.2026 |
| Exposure | RGB: 11 x 120 sec., HAlpha: 22 x 300 sec. & OIII: 22 x 300 sec. – Total: approx. 5 hours |
| Telescope | Skywatcher 200PDS |
| Camera | ZWO ASI 2600MM Pro |
| Mount | Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro |
| Guiding | ZWO OAG with ZWO ASI 290MM Mini & ASIAIR |
| Corrector | TS-Optics Newtonian Coma Corrector 1.0× |
| Filters | RGB, Hα 3 nm (Antlia), OIII 7 nm (ZWO) |
| Software | ASIAIR, Stellarium, AstroPixelProcessor, PixInsight, GraXpert, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, BlurXTerminator, Photoshop CC, Nik Collection 7 |