Christmas Tree Cluster and Cone Nebula – 183×30 sec, gain 42, offset 42, and 49×120 sec in 2 runs, 30×120 and 19×120. Bortle Red zone metro conditions, but clear and above average transparency skies. Seeing was average. QHY183c camera cooled to -15C. gain 20, offset 100, an L-eNhance filter and Televue TV-85 at F/5.6. Sharpcap 3.2 for acquisition. Taken Dec 1, 2020 during a full moon night.
IC1795, NGC896, Tombaugh 4 and Mel 15 with parts of IC805, otherwise known as the Heart Nebula. 60×60 sec, Gain 25, Offset 100, QHY183c at -15C, Optolong L-eNhance filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
Jellyfish Nebula on Nov 24, 2020. 46×120 sec at 20 Gain and 100 Offset, added 237×30 sec @ Gain 37, offset 15, QHY183c at -15C, L-eNhance filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
North America Nebula, Pelican Nebula Mosaic Preview
Above is the start of the mosaic. 3 Panels that will probably be six before it is all said and done. Below is just the North America Part, unfinished since I need to get the top of the nebula. Click to see it at 50% of the full resolution.
M42, The Orion Nebula. Multiple data sets – 137×8 sec gain 30 for the core, 37×60 and 60×60 gain 20, 34×60 gain 11, all at offset 200, QHY183c at -15C to -20C and an Optolong L-eNhance Filter, TV-85 at F/5.6.
Gamma Cassiopeia and The Ghost Nebula. 60 x 60 sec @ Gain 11, Offset 200, QHY183c at -20C, Optolong L-eNhance Filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.Gamma Cassiopeia and The Ghost Nebula. 60 x 60 sec @ Gain 11, Offset 200, QHY183c at -20C, Optolong L-eNhance Filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6. Detail View.
2-Panel Mosaic of the Running Man Nebula and The Orion Nebula, taken Nov 18-19, 2020. About 140×30 sec for Running Man panel and 169×30 sec plus 134 minutes from Nov 22, 2020 for the Orion Nebula. QHY183c at -20C, Gain 37, Offset 200, L-eNhance Filter, Televue TV-85 at F/5.6.
Gain was too high for this project. The over-saturated areas caused column/row artifacts which created dark horizontal bands on either side of the brightest part of the core. It was difficult to deal with in post-processing. Next time, I want to try some low-gain, longer exposures instead to see if the banding problem goes away.
For fun, I combined this image with my M42 project image that included all my best data to date. Here is the results of that mix:
M42 Project – Best image data as of Nov 2020.
Images of Comets, Nebulae, Galaxies and Star Clusters
