SH2-112

SH2-112 is an H2 region located approximately 5600 light years away in the constellation Cygnus. Data for this image was captured across multiple nights in October, November, and December of 2018. Due to limited clear nights I was not able to capture as much data as I would have liked before this disappeared for the season, so this project may continue next year as well.

Details:
Ha: 88 x 300s, Gain 300
OIII: 48 x 300s, Gain 300

Gear:
Scope: AT6RC
Camera: ASI1600MM Pro
Filters: Astronomik 6n Hydrogen Alpha; Astronomik 6nm Oxygen III

Processed in Pixinsight

NGC 7822

This image did not quite turn out how I was hoping. The framing is 90 degrees off where I wanted nit but I was imaging other targets as well and did not want to through off the orientation of everything else. Additionally, the OIII did not "pop" as much as I has hoped. I have seen other images of this region where the OIII signal is quite strong. I am thinking that I might need to bump up my exposure time, even with the high gain settings. I will definitely revisit this target in the near future, hopefully I will have an S2 filter by then.

Info:
NGC 7822 is a star forming region located 3000 light years away in the constellation Cepheus. The molecular cloud complex which gives rise to the visible nebula is known as the radio source W1 (Westerhout 1), one of the largest molecular cloud complexes in the Milky Way.

Image details:
Data for this image was captured over multiple nights in central Missouri from October-December 2018.

This image consists of ionized oxygen and hydrogen lines at 6nm, with hydrogen mapped to red and oxygen mapped to green and blue.

HA: 123 x 300s, Gain 300
O3: 80 x 300s, Gain 300
16.9 hours total data

Gear:
Scope: AT6RC Ritchey–Chrétien
Camera: ASI1600MM Pro
Filters: Astronomik 6nm

Processed in Pixinsight and CS6
Captured with Sequence Generator Pro

NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula

This is one of those targets that never feels like it has enough time. This image was an experiment of sorts, as I was testing high gain imaging along with shorter 240s subs. It seems crazy to even attempt narrowband through an f/9 scope with 240s subs, but they worked surprisingly well with this camera. In hindsight I wish I would have gone 300, but overall pretty happy.

Description: Located 7200 light years away, the Wizard nebula, surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans about 100 light years, making it appear larger than the angular extent of the Moon.

Details:
6nm HA: 124x240s, Gain 300
6nm OIII: 131x240s, Gain 300

Camera: ASI1600MM Pro
Scope: AstroTech AT6RC
Filters: Astronomik 6nm Ha/OIII
Mount: Atlas EQG

Processed in Pixinsight

NGC 6543: The Cat's Eye Nebula

The Cat's Eye Nebula is a planetary nebula located approximately 3300 light years away constellation of Draco. This image was captured over approximately 7 nights.

This was an extremely difficult target to process. The center of this nebula is extremely bright, while the outer core is extremely faint. I think I will probably revisit this at some point but for now I am finished with this target.

NGC 6946 Revisited

I decided to process my previous data from NGC 6946 from scratch. I was not happy with the original color, and in hindsight feel as though I grossly oversaturated the image.

For this new revision I also deviated from my standard workflow and used Arcsine Stretch for the Luminance data and a standard histogram for the RGB. This is opposite what most people do when using this script, but I am pretty happy with the results, especially in how it controlled the star sizes.

NGC 6914 in Cygnus

NGC 6914 is a reflection nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. There are several dark nebula in this region as well, including LDN 897, LDN 899, and LDN 900. This is an image I captured back in 2017. I have struggled to get the processing down with this one, especially combining the Ha data with the LRGB. I feel like I have finally achieved a good balance with this version. This data was collected over 8 nights in June 2017.

Total Integration: 23 hours

Equipment: William Optics GT71, Atik 428EX, Astronomik LRGBHa

Processed in Pixinsight and CS6

NGC 6946: The Fireworks Galaxy

I purchased an ASI1600MM Pro back in February and never really had a chance to use it until July. First light revealed that there were hardware issues with the camera and it needed sent to ZWO in China for repair. This image is the first I have taken since receiving the camera back. Overall very happy, the pattern noise has been completely eliminated with the repair. The Fireworks Galaxy is a spiral galaxy located in Cepheus. The name was given due to the frequency of supernova observed, 10 in total. NGC 6946 is approximately 22 million light years away. Details: Lum: 100x300s, Gain 139 RGB: 40x300s per channel, Gain 139 Gear: ASI1600MM, AT6RC, Astronomik 1.25" LRGB, APCCDT67, Atlas EQG Captured with Sequence Generator Pro, PHD2, EQMOD Processed in Pixinsight