NGC 6888 - The Crescent Nebula

NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a cosmic bubble about 25 light-years across, blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. NGC 6888's central star is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). The star is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the Sun's mass every 10,000 years. The nebula's complex structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with material ejected in an earlier phase. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion. Found in the nebula rich constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away. The nebula was discovered by Frederick William Herschel in 1792. (source apod and wikipedia)

This picture was taken in 7th Meeting Brazilian of Astrophotography in July, 2014 - Alto Paraíso de Goiás - Chapada dos Veadeiros - Goiás - Brazil.

Technical data
ISO 800, total exposure of 01h45m (21 subs), darks, flats and bias applied.

Equipment
- Equatorial Mount Orion Atlas EQ-G
- Auto guided with Orion Starshoot and Refractor Orion 80mm
- Refractor Triplet Meade 80mm APO F6
- Canon DSLR 500D modded with Astrodon Filter
- Astro-Tech Field Flattener 2"

Software
Capture: BackyardEOS
Processing: PixInsight 1.8 and Adobe Photoshop CS5

Stars's spikes were created by crossed wire in front of refractor!