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Lunchtime Photo

This is the Flaming Star Nebula, aka IC 405, a combination emission/reflection nebula in the Auriga constellation.

I took this picture Sunday night after a multi-month layoff, and it was the best night of astrophotography I've ever had. Usually something goes wrong during the imaging session—it's always weird and different each time—but the sky was perfect on Sunday and everything went great. I set up the scope with no trouble, pressed Go, and it took pictures steadily for the next eight hours with no complaints. In the end, I got more than 100 subs of four minutes each, partly because it was a long winter night and partly because everything went so smoothly. This is by far my most productive session ever.

When I got home and put everything together, I once again tried the technique of extracting separate RGB images and then merging them back together. That's the top image, and it's spectacularly more detailed than a standard stack, as shown in the bottom picture. Aesthetically, the choice between the two is still a matter of taste, but technically the top picture is far superior.

I was also hoping to pull out some hints of the blue wispiness in this nebula, but didn't really have any luck. I suspect that the blue comes from the reflection part of the nebula and my narrowband filter just knocked it out completely. I still need some more practice with this, since it involves a lot of personal choice about combining the colors and producing a good end result.

December 1, 2024 — Desert Center, California

8 thoughts on “Lunchtime Photo

  1. Ken Rhodes

    Kevin, with all the things you do to tease meaning out of numbers, you are certainly recognized by your readers as a legit nerd.

    But in this work, you truly outdo yourself. You are a world-class nerd.

    BZ.

  2. emjayay

    Now that we understand what we are looking at in the night sky (a relatively recent development in human history) the idea that a humanlike daddy figure is up there somewhere and bothering to be involved with each human's life has become totally preposterous.

    Imagine there's no heaven
    It's easy if you try
    No hell below us
    Above us, only sky

    And we know what's below us now too. Turns out it's hot, but not a place where God sends bad people after they die.

  3. pjcamp1905

    Yes, blue is reflection. Except it is really scattering so it is blue for the same reason the sky is blue. And yes, a narrowband filter for H alpha will exclude it entirely. for this purpose, you're better off with LRGB filters and a monochrome camera, or a UV/IR notch filter.

    Have you tried a Seestar yet? Friend of mine has one and it is trivial to use and produces amazing images sent directly to your phone. Automatic image stacking. He calls it a gateway drug to astrophotography.

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