Heart Nebula (IC 1805), Fish Head Nebula (IC 1794; Northern Bear Nebula), and Melotte 15

Posted by: @greg-erianne

I wanted to share some 'lessons learned' here.  I planned on doing a total of 3 hrs 15 min of exposure with 300 sec exposures x 39, doing three sets of 13 exposures each so I could manually refocus between sets (since I don't have an auto-focuser and the temp was dropping). 

The first set went fine, then I refocused -- but apparently caused the telescope to shift slightly and (HERE'S THE LESSON) never bothered to recheck my RA/DEC coordinates to be sure the target was still centered!  🙄 I don't have a Goto mount and should have plate-solved after my refocus to see if anything shifted.  As a result, I couldn't really use my 2nd and 3rd data sets (an additional 1:10 of exposure time) since the nebula was mostly out of frame.

Anyway...since I only have 1:13 of data (using the first two 4-minute exposures as well), there was a bit of noise and so I had to soften the image more than I would have liked to minimize the noise...all because I didn't recheck my RA/DEC! I thought it might be instructive if anyone is doing something similar, so I wanted to share the experience.  

 

AT60ED w/ field flattener
ASI2600MC Pro (OSC camera)
SkyGuider Pro with guiding via ASIAir Plus using an ASI120mm mini and a 30mm F4 guide scope
Optolong L-Extreme dual-band filter (H-alpha, O-III)
240 second exposures x 2; 300 second exposures x 13: [Total exposure time: 1:13]; with dark, flat, and dark-flat frames 
Stacked in Siril (as an RGB image, not as narrowband) and post-processed in Photoshop  

 HeartNebula_Siril_RedSize.jpg

Greg, great image, lots of detail and interesting colors.    It's a great image for any amount of exposure.   

Terri

Posted by: @terri

Greg, great image, lots of detail and interesting colors.    It's a great image for any amount of exposure.   

 

Terri

Thanks, Terri.  I was a little 'down' about the lost 2 hours of imaging time, so I appreciate the kind words!  

Greg

Hi Greg, Super lovely image! Would you mind if it goes on our VAS Facebook page?

Maura

Posted by: @maura-kelley

Hi Greg, Super lovely image! Would you mind if it goes on our VAS Facebook page?

 

Maura

I wouldn't mind at all, Maura!  I'd be thrilled to have it on the Facebook page.  I actually made a 'toned-down' and reoriented version of this a few days after I posted the original.  I included it below in case you'd rather use that one.  Your choice.  Thanks!!

Greg

@greg-erianne Your first image really looks like what I would image a heart to look like. I particularly like the colors, better than a lot I've seen online. Thanks so much! 

Great capture Greg! Lots of detail and contrast! Heck of a job! Congrats!!!

Posted by: @rdaniell

Great capture Greg! Lots of detail and contrast! Heck of a job! Congrats!!!

Thanks so much, Rick!  I appreciate that.  😀