Collecting  Photons

1600x1116

Objects:             A collection of reflection nebulae, dust and a subtle patches of ionized Hydrogen. The three reflections on the right are VdB 67 (NGC 2170), VdB 69 and VdB 68 (clockwise from the right). Then, left of center, we meet VdB 72 (NGC 2182) and finally, on the left side, VdB 73 (NGC 2183 and 2185). There are 7 entries in the LBN catalogue, the most prominent being LBN 999, corresponding to the large patch of dust and ionized hydrogen in the field center.

Constellation:     Monoceros

Coordinates of field center (J2000): 6h 08m 48; +6° 25'

Notes: A pretty amazing field east of Orion. This might be the most colorful patch of sky together with the area around r Ophiuchi. The scale is much smaller here, but the variety of object is staggering. I subdued the Hα overlay on purpose to avoid overpowering the reflection nebulae.
 

Telescope and camera: ASA 10', f 3.6; SBIG STL 11000.

Exposure: Hα 19x16'; Luminance 42x8'; R, 22x10'; B 15x10'; G 16x8'. About 19 hrs total.

Date: Because of the lousy winter we had in the 2010-2011 season, I could start imaging this object so late that it was already past the meridian for most of the night. So it took 9 nights on February and March 2011 to collect enough signal.

Software used: acquisition, CCDsoft, FocusMax, CCDcommander, The Sky VI. Calibration; registration and stacking: CCDstack, Registar; processing: PixInsight, Photoshop CS. 

Processing notes: processing was very delicate due to the usual problem: too many stars and some really nasty halo that have not been treated to complete satisfaction. The background has been kept high on purpose to bettere represent the underlying dust. The dust field turned out to be quite red, I cannot decide if this is due to a erroneous white balancing of the low light or not. However in the past I imaged other object characterized by very red dust, for example VdB 143 in Cepheus, or certain areas in Orion.

Copyright © 2011 by Gimmi Ratto. (April 3, 2011)