Collecting Photons
VdB48, IC 426, LBN 924, 925, 027, 928, 921Orionis
Objects: The fires from hell surrounding the central star of the Orion sword.
Constellation: Orion
Coordinates of field center: 5h 38m -00° 46'
Notes:
The area surrounding Alnilam is a stupefying bestiary of fantastic shapes and
colures. Ori is a powerful source
of radiation providing excitation to the entire area. Besides the obvious
emission nebulae the variety of hues is provided by some surprising reflection
nebulae and by a background of brownish dust. Some of the RGB data have
been collected under complete remote control while I was in Edinburgh. It was a
memorable night and a great step ahead for my observatory.
Telescope and camera: ASA 10', f 3.6; SBIG STL 11000.
Exposure: Hα 25x16'; R, B 24x10'; G 23x8'. About 18 hrs total.
Date: 9 nights on 9, 14, 19, 26-29 October 2010 and 3, 4 November 2010.
Software used: acquisition, CCDsoft, FocusMax, CCDcommander, The Sky VI. Calibration; registration and stacking: CCDstack, Registar; processing: PixInsight, Photoshop CS.
Processing notes: Alnilam was a bloody pain in the neck because of its halo and because of some nasty reflections. I had to proceed very carefully with the blending of the Hα layer to avoid overpowering the image with its signal. The image has a conspicuous brownish gradient due to the dust. Very difficult processing overall.
Details of the reflection nebulae
Copyright © 2010 by Gimmi Ratto. (November 21, 2010)
