Gamma Cygni / Sadr

Object Type: Emission Nebula
Scope: Orion APO 80mm; Exposure 80 minutes.

This is the glowing nebulosity around Sadr (Gamma Cygni), the bright star at the center of the Northern Cross in Cygnus. The diffuse emission nebula, catalogued as IC 1318 and often called the Gamma Cygni or Butterfly Nebula, is split into lobes by dark dust lanes and lies roughly 3,700-5,000 light-years away. (The star Sadr itself is much closer, about 1,800 light-years, and only appears superimposed on the more distant gas.) The name Sadr comes from the Arabic for 'chest.'