NGC 6820 is a star forming region in the constellation Vulpecula, the fox. It is one of the rare regions in the sky that shows all three types of nebulae, red emission, blue reflection, and dark, within a single frame. The nebula has already spawned the bright cluster of hot blue stars, NGC 6823 in the center of the image. Stellar winds from this cluster are sculpting various pillars of gas and dust within the cloud, including one long, large dark elephant trunk of dust to lower left of center. This is one of the largest such structures visible from Earth and appears much larger than the famous “Pillars of Creation” in M16, the Eagle Nebula, yet hardly anyone is aware of this much better example. The nebula and cluster lie 6,000 light-years from Earth.

Telescope: Celestron Compustar C14

Ha:R:G:B = 600:170:170:170 = 18 hours 30 minutes total exposure at f/7.5.