The entire Sh2-117 complex in one frame: the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070), and the rarely imaged IC 5068, with the dark molecular cloud LDN 935, the "Gulf of Mexico," carving the coastlines between them. Four-panel mosaic, HaRGB, 92h 28m total integration from Starfront Observatory in Rockwood, Texas (Bortle 1).

At roughly 2,600 light-years, the complex spans well over 100 light-years. The three catalog "objects" are one continuous HII region; the familiar shapes are simply the silhouette of LDN 935 sitting in front of it. The ionizing source is the Bajamar Star, an O-type star (since shown to be a massive binary) buried inside LDN 935 behind ~10 magnitudes of extinction and only identified in 2005. Deneb, just off the top edge of this field, was the traditional suspect but is too cool to do the job.

Things to look for: the Cygnus Wall, a ~20 ly ionization front along the lower edge of the continent; the pillars along the Pelican's neck (home of the HH 555 jet); the dust lanes crossing IC 5068; and the orange foreground giant ξ Cygni at lower left.

Acquisition

Hα: 356 × 300s (29h 40m) · Antlia 3.5nm Pro, gain 100

R: 417 × 180s (20h 51m) · G: 419 × 180s (20h 57m) · B: 420 × 180s (21h 00m) · Antlia V-Pro, gain 0

Total: 92h 28m over 22 nights, 10 Aug – 9 Sep 2026 (~23 h per panel)

RedCat 91 · ASI2600MM Pro at -5°C · AM5N · captured with N.I.N.A.

Processing (PixInsight)

WBPP per panel and filter, GraXpert, Trim Mosaic Tile, MosaicByCoordinates, PhotometricMosaic per filter, then ChannelCombination to RGB. DBE on RGB and Hα, SPCC on RGB, BlurXTerminator and NoiseXTerminator on both while still linear, then StarXTerminator (stars kept from RGB, discarded from Hα). RGB starless stretched with MAS and finished with saturation and S-curve adjustments; Hα starless stretched with GHS; the two combined with Image Blend to colorize the Hα with the RGB. Stars stretched separately with Star Stretch and screened back in.

Full write-up with feature crops and a finder chart found at https://www.phillipsastro.com/a-continent-in-cygnus/.