Albireo

Thu May 11 2023

Albireo is a gorgeous double star in the constellation Cygnus. To the naked eye it looks like a single star, but a telescope splits it into two, one glowing gold and the other blue, one of the loveliest color contrasts in the entire night sky. I shot this in a hurry one morning before work, and it brought back the first time I ever saw Albireo through a telescope.

About this object

Type

Double Star

Constellation

Cygnus (the Swan)

Catalogue designations

Beta Cygni

Acquisition

• Antlia V-Pro Red 31 mm: 77 × 5s (6m 25s)
• Antlia V-Pro Green 31 mm: 76 × 5s (6m 20s)
• Antlia V-Pro Blue 31 mm: 43 × 5s (3m 35s)
• Total integration: 16m 20s

Equipment

• Telescope / Lens: Celestron C8
• Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
• Mount: Celestron CGEM II
• Filters: Antlia V-Pro Blue 31 mm, Antlia V-Pro Green 31 mm, Antlia V-Pro Red 31 mm
• Guiding scope: SVBony SV106 60mm Guide Scope
• Guiding camera: ZWO ASI224MC
• Accessories: Celestron 0.63X SCT Reducer (94175), ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25″ / 31mm
• Software: Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight

Astrophotography by David Joyce, AstroDavido.