Deep in the skies overhead on a late summer night lurk the denizens of myriad suns. Le Gentil 3, the dark region just right of center, is sometimes confused for the Northern Coal Sack which resides between and Alpha and Gamma Cygni (extreme upper right hand corner).
Astronomy writer and amateur astronomer Ken Hewitt-White dubbed it the Funnel Cloud Nebula for its similar appearance to a tornado funnel cloud as seen with the unaided eye. Long exposure photography reveals many tendrils spanning into Cepheus to the north and its complex network of dark and bright nebula.
A visual feast whether using your eyes under a dark sky or enjoying photographs such as this one.
A mosaic of two frames combined for this view.
Each frame 50 minutes exposure Pentax 67 165mm @ f/4.8 on Fuji Superia 100 film.
