IC 5146, also known as Caldwell 19, Sh 2-125, Barnard 168, and the Cocoon Nebula, is a reflection and emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. According to the NGC description, IC 5146 is a cluster of 9.5 magnitude stars embedded in both bright and dark nebulosity. The star cluster within the nebula is also referred to as Collinder 470. 

Situated near the naked-eye star Pi Cygni, IC 5146 is also close to the open cluster NGC 7209 in Lacerta and the bright open cluster M39. The cluster is approximately 4,000 light-years away, with its central star, which illuminates the nebula, having formed around 100,000 years ago. The nebula spans about 12 arcminutes across, equivalent to a distance of 15 light-years.

Object: IC 5146

Location: Portsmouth, UK

Mount: Alt Az

Bortle Scale: 7

Nights:       14-15 July 2024

Total Subs Used: 722 x 10 Subs

Seeing:  Clear

Fits Stacked: Siril

Post-Processing Steps

1. GraXpert - Background extraction and Denoise v2.0 

2. Siril - colour calibration, photometric colour calibration, removing green noise, colour calibration, GHST, colour saturation.

3.  Astrosharp, Lightroom