IC 5068: Unveiling the Forsaken Nebula

The constellation Cygnus is a treasure trove for astrophotographers, home to iconic targets like the North America and Pelican Nebulae. Continuing a personal quest to capture the region's wonders, we turn our attention to a less-sung, yet equally captivating, celestial neighbor: IC 5068, also known as the Forsaken Nebula.

This image represents a significant investment of time and precision, with a total integration time of 18 hours and 51 minutes. The narrowband data was meticulously collected, broken down into:

• Hydrogen-alpha (H): 108 x 180s (05h 24m)
• Sulfur (S): 99 x 180s (04h 57m)
• Oxygen (O): 124 x 180s (06h 12m)

Special thanks to the following equipment for making this capture possible:

• Telescope: Askar FRA400
• Camera: UMi 17R
• Autoguiding: Touptek ATR2600M with WO UniGuide 32 and ASI715MC
• Filter Wheel: Pegasus Indigo 7x2"
• Filters: Altair 7 nm 2" Ha, Antlia 3 nm OIII and SII
• Focus Controller: Pegasus FocusCube 3
• Power Management: Pegasus Powerbox Advance gen2
• Software: NINA and PHD2

The Processing Journey

Achieving the final image involved a multi-stage processing workflow in PixInsight, focusing on separating and enhancing the narrowband data:

Initial Stack Processing (H, S, O):

• Subframe Selector for quality assessment.
• Weighted Batch Pre-Processing (WBPP) with fast 2x drizzle integration.
• BlurXterminator (Correct Only) for initial deblurring.
• SpectroPhotometric Flux Calibration.
• Multiscale Gradient Correction.

Star Processing:

• RGB Channel Combination in HSO palette.
• SpectroPhotometric Color Calibration.
• BlurXterminator for star cleaning.
• NoiseXterminator to reduce noise.
• StarXterminator, followed by discarding the starless image for this stage.
• Split RGB Channels.
• SetiAstro's NB to RGB Star Combination script (including stretch).
• Curves Transformation for saturation adjustment.

Starless Processing:

• RGB Channel Combination in HSO palette.
• BlurXterminator for overall sharpness.
• StarXterminator was used again, this time discarding the stars.
• NoiseXterminator for noise reduction.
• Split RGB Channels.
• Seti Astro's Statistical Stretch script for initial data stretching.
• RGB Channel Combination in SHO palette for narrowband color mapping.
• Narrowband Normalization (SHO mode) with adjustments to SCNR, OIII boost, and SII boost.
• Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (GHS) for fine-tuning the stretch and saturation.
• Curves Transformation with masks to meticulously adjust color balance and contrast.
• An additional pass of NoiseXterminator to ensure a clean final starless image.

Final Recombination:

• Pixel Math was used to seamlessly recombine the starless image with the processed stars.
• The final image was resampled to 50% of its original resolution.

The result is a stunning portrayal of IC 5068, revealing intricate details of gas and dust that contribute to the ongoing star formation within this nebula. Though sometimes overshadowed by its more prominent celestial companions, the Forsaken Nebula certainly holds its own, offering a unique perspective on the dynamic beauty of our universe.