NGC-6888, commonly called The Crescent Nebula, is a hydrogen II emission nebula located in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. It is formed by the solar wind from its hot, Wolf-Rayet type central star colliding with material which was ejected from that star when it became a red giant approximately 400,000 years ago. This nebula lies 5000 light years from Earth and is approximateliy 25 years in diameter.
This image, acquired on August 17, 2012, is a 50 minute integration of 2 minute exposures through the Celestron C-11 at f/2, using the HyperStar III imaging system and the Starlight Express SXVR-H694C color CCD camera, operating at -10 degrees below ambient temperature and binned 1 X 1. Guided, captured and combined using Maxim DL5 Pro. Post processed using PhotoShop CS2, Gradient XTerminator, StarShrink, Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.