Mu Cephei + Massimo Di Fusco + L-UItimate, L-QEF

Mu Cephei

Credit: Massimo Di Fusco

Filters: Optolong L-UItimate, Optolong L-QEF

 

 

 

20 hours ago
This is one of the last photos I took with the Poseidon-C before it decided to stop working for no apparent reason.
I wanted to photograph this area because I was struck by its beauty while doing research on Astrobin, both for the imposing red star (μ Cephei) and for the number of dark areas that stand out against the red of the ionised hydrogen. 
This is the northern part of the extensive IC 1396 nebula, which is often photographed in wide field to capture it in its entirety (I myself photographed it a few years ago at a focal length of 480mm).
Mu Cephei (Latinised from μ Cephei), also known as Herschel's Garnet Star, is a red supergiant star located at the extreme edge of the Elephant Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) in the constellation Cepheus. It is a magnitude 4 star easily visible to the naked eye under good observing conditions. Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as the spectral standard by which other stars are classified.
Mu Cephei is over 100,000 times brighter than the Sun, with an absolute visual magnitude of -7.6. It is also one of the largest known stars, with a radius equal to or greater than 1,000 times that of the Sun, and if it were placed in the position of the Sun, it would extend beyond the orbit of Saturn.
Mu Cephei is a variable star and the prototype of the obsolete Mu Cephei class of variables. It is now considered a semi-regular variable of the SRc type. Its apparent brightness varies irregularly between magnitudes 3.4 and 5.1. Many different periods have been reported, but they consistently settle around 860 or 4400 days.
Mu Cephei is surrounded by ionised hydrogen-alpha and the dust clouds LDN 1117, 1121, 1123, 1124, 1126, 1127, 1128, 1130 and LBN 456, all belonging to the huge Elephant Trunk Nebula.
On the right of the image is the planetary nebula PK100+04.1, confirmed as a PN in 2009.

 

 

 

Konus 200/1000 @950mm, f/4.8
Player One Astronomy Poseidon-C camera @-5 °C
Sky-Watcher Eq6r Pro Mount
Optolong L-Ultimate filter 261x300"
Optolong L-Quad Enhance filter 60x180"
N.I.N.A., APP, PixInsight, PS
Ferrara (Italy)

Hope you like it.