Type: Open Star Cluster with Nebulosity

Constellation: Cepheus

Distance from Earth: 8500 Light Years

About: NGC 7380 is a young open cluster of stars in the northern circumpolar constellation of Cepheus, discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. The surrounding emission nebulosity is known colloquially as the Wizard Nebula. 

Personally, one of my favorite targets in the night sky as I am a big fan of the Wizarding World and Harry Potter novels and movies. I have imaged NGC 7380 several times and the image above is my 2024 version. 

For some artistic flair, I changed the color schemes to represent the 4 Houses of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (See below)

Imaging Project Information:

Imaging Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 8 with 0.7x reducer to bring the focal ratio to F/7 and a focal length of 1422mm. 

Imaging Camera:  ZWO ASI533MM Pro cooled to o°C below ambient temperature

Mount: iOptron CEM60

Guiding: Celestron Off-Axis Guider and ZWO ASI174MM Mini guide camera

Filters and Frames: Antlia V-Pro RGB filters, Frames (RGB) 40 x 30s each (for the stars). Antlia Edge Narrowband filters (Sulfur II, Oxygen III, and Hydrogen Alpha) @ 4.5nm bandpass for the nebulosity and using the Hubble palette, frames (SHO) 85 x 300s each. 

Accessories:  Mele Quieter 3C  Mini PC to manage imaging sessions and components. Primalucelab Essato LP 2″ Focuser and Giotto Smart Flat Field Generator. Pegasus Astro Powerbox Advanced, and USB Control Hub for Power and Data distribution. 

Software: Acquisition – N.I.N.A Preprocessing: Pixinisght Postprocessing: Pixinsight

Acquisition Period: RGB imaging dates:  7/30/24 and 8/10/2024, Narrowband imaging dates: 7/31, 8/2, 8/6, 8/7, 8/8, 8/10/2024