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Pac Man Nebula - Narrowband
What is it? From: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050823.html: "Explanation: NGC 281 is a busy workshop of star formation. Prominent features include a small open cluster of stars, a diffuse red-glowing emission nebula, large lanes of obscuring gas and dust, and dense knots of dust and gas in which stars may still be forming. The open cluster of stars IC 1590 visible around the center has formed only in the last few million years. The brightest member of this cluster is actually a multiple-star system shining light that helps ionize the nebula's gas, causing the red glow visible throughout. The lanes of dust visible left of center are likely homes of future star formation. Particularly striking in the above photograph are the dark Bok globules visible against the bright nebula. The NGC 281 system, dubbed the Pacman nebula for its overall shape, lies about 10 thousand light years distant."
Image Details: Ha = Red, O3 = Green & Blue, Red blended into the luminance. 28*5 minutes Ha plus 28*5 minutes O3 = 4.7 hours total exposure. Equipment: SBIG ST-8300 CCD camera with the FW8-8300 filter wheel, Astrodon narrowband 36mm filters, the Takahashi FSQ-85 telescope (at f5, no reducer), AP 900GTO mount. I used MaximDL to acquire and process flat and dark frames, Registar to align. Final processing was in Photoshop CS6 and I did a little vibrance/saturation processing. More versions are forthcoming! Other narrowband pictures with this combination, and more info, are at this link. Other astronomy pictures from the December 2012 Davis Mountains trip are here.
Three hours (36x5 minute) exposures using the QHY8 CCD camera. Telescope was the Takahashi TOA 130 with the flattener with the AP 900GTO mount and the QHY8 CCD Camera. 9/27/2008, HAS Site near Columbus, TX. Image Processing: I intended to shoot raw but did not. Processed in nebulosity with 20 flats (not bias subtracted) and 6 darks (not bias subtracted). Combined in Registar, a little stretching in Nebulosity, and final processing in Photoshop CS3. Neat Image noise reduction.
Image Details: Combination of 24x4 = 88 minute minute images. Takahashi TOA 130 (a 5" APO refractor) and Canon EOS D20a. Another image using my DSLR Workflow.
Processing Notes: I used GradientXterminator on this one.
Starry Nights October 19th and 20th 2006
Astronomy Pictures: Dick Locke's Astrophoto Gateway page....
Copyright © Dick Locke. All Rights Reserved.
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