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Negative space

Jeffrey Horne/Drew Evans

The Cygnus Rift is a dark, broad lane of dust often captured in images of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070), occupying the gulf between the two and forming their outlines. But this inky, swirling complex takes center stage in this image comprising nearly 365 hours of exposure in Hα/OIII/SII/LRGB filters. The imagers used a 4.7-inch scope at f/5.6 and a 5.2-inch scope at f/6.9, with nearly equivalent fields of view.