It so happened that all the astrophotos I previously published here were archival images taken one or several years ago. This time, I finally decided to post something new — an image captured quite recently: the NGC 7822 nebula in the constellation Cepheus.
This large and complex nebula, also known by the unofficial name Question Mark Nebula, is located about 3,000 light-years from Earth. It is rich in young, hot stars whose intense ultraviolet radiation ionizes the surrounding gas clouds, causing them to glow. My image shows only a small but brightest part of this vast region, known as Ced 214 (Cederblad 214), or LBN 581.
This is also my first published image taken with the Atik 428EX Color camera, which I purchased last fall. Although I have collected data on about 25 deep-sky objects with it since then, only recently did I find the time to fully process a complete image.
In total, approximately 18 hours of exposure were accumulated on NGC 7822 between March and mid-May 2026.
Equipment:
- Stellarvue SV102ED with William Optics 0.8x focal reducer (effective focal length 570 mm, f/5.6)
- Atik 428EX Color camera with Baader Planetarium UV/IR-cut filter
- QHY mini guide scope + QHY5L-II guide camera
- Celestron CG-5 mount with EQStar system
Acquisition:
- 217 × 300-second exposures
- Sensor temperature: -10°C
While processing the image, I couldn't shake the impression that Ced 214 resembles a human skull, with dark dust lanes forming something like eye sockets and a jawline. The nebula image is shown as captured and processed, while the skull next to it represents my personal visual interpretation of its structure.
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