Cepheus: Elephant Trunk to Sharpless 2-129 | |||
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The images below are three separate attempts to capture an expanse of sky stretching across the bottom of the constellation Cepheus. Included is the Elephant Trunk Nebula inside IC1396 (upper left) and the much fainter Flying Bat Nebula (Sharpless 2-129, lower right), both emission nebula rich in ionized hydrogen. Faintly visible inside the red Sharpless 2-129 at right is the very dim Squid Nebula (Ou4), which appears as an elongated ghost of blue in the shape of a squid. The Squid Nebula was only discovered in 2011 by Nicolas Outters. | |||
For a more detailed look at the Elephant Trunk Nebula: | IC 1396: Elephant Trunk |
For a more detailed look at the Sharpless 2-129 and the Squid Nebula: | Sharpless 2-129 and Flying Squid Nebula |
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| Optics: | Takahashi FSQ106 | ||
| Camera: | ZWO ASI6200MM Pro | ||
| Exposure info: | 600 sec subs (3-panel mosaic, 35 hours total exposure time) | ||
| Filters used: | Astrodon Ha, OIII, SII narrowband filters | ||
| Date: | Fall 2023 | ||
| Processing: | Pixinsight-->Photoshop-->Topaz deNoise AI-->Lightroom | ||
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| Optics: | William Optics Redcat Refractor / 3-frame mosaic | ||
| Camera: | ASI 1600MM cooled astronomy camera | ||
| Exposure info: | ~ 20 subs / filter / frame, 300 sec exposures | ||
| Filters used: | Astrodon Halpha, OIII, SII filters | ||
| date: | November 2020 | ||
The mosaic above is a re-do of the image below, using a cooled astronomy camera and narrowband filters. In this case a 3-frame mosaic was required to cover the same field of view. While the resolution is higher and the noise lower in this version, the higher number of frames, longer exposures and darker skies (for the OIII frames) in the image below seem to have given a superior result, at least in showing the elusive Outters 4 Squid Nebula! It seems more subframes and deeper exposures are in order.... | |||
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| Optics: | Canon 200mm lens f/4 | ||
| Camera: | astro-modified Canon 6D | ||
| Exposure info: | 48 x 600 sec H-alpha iso800, 74 x 600 sec OIII iso1600 | ||
| Filters used: | Astronomik H-alpha, OIII (12 nm) | ||
| date: | November 2016 | ||
An expanse of sky stretching across the bottom of the constellation Cepheus. Included is the Elephant Trunk Nebula inside IC1396 (upper left) and the much fainter Flying Bat Nebula (Sharpless 2-129, lower right), both emission nebula rich in ionized hydrogen. The image was shot entirely through narrowband filters; the H-alpha taken from light-polluted Maryland, while the Oxygen III frames were taken from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where the skies are considerably darker. Faintly visible inside the red Sharpless 2-129 at lower right is the very dim Squid Nebula (Ou4), which appears as an elongated ghost of teal in the shape of a squid. The Squid Nebula was only discovered in 2011 by Nicolas Outters. The image is a composite of 20 hours of exposure, my longest effort yet. My goal was to try and capture the faint squid, which I did, although just barely! | |||