The Final Pacman, NGC 281

Here is the final for the moment, but I need to look at it for a few days.

The difference between the two is different processing in Registar. Before I combined the three sets in RGB then split them into channels only to re-combine them in Neb2 as LRGB=(Ha)HaGB. For this image, I turned auto-scaling in Registar off, then registered G and B to Ha, calibrated G and B to Ha, then saved the calibrated images. Then I went back to Neb2, aligned the Ha and calibrated G and B, saving each as separate files. Then I combined in LRGB synthesis using Ha as Lum and R, as before, then stretched and adjusted color and background until the stars began to look right. Finally, I opened in Photoshop Elements 7 for cropping, a little unsharp masking, and the application of Noel Carboni's action "Increase Star Color." I am happy with this image. It matches my data quite well.

Other details about the image can be found here.

Here is a false color version. In this rendition, Ha is blue, blue is red, and green is blue. I like it because the blue-white stars show gold against the background of the nebula. It's a nicer aesthetic effect.

M76 (10-24-09)

First image of this object.

Imaging Scope: Orion 80ED & WO 0.8x II (f/6)
Imager: Atik 16
Exposure: 50x5'
Filter: Celestron LPR
Capture Software: Nebulosity 2
Mount: Takahashi EM-10
Guiding Camera: DSI Pro
Guiding Software: PHD
Guiding Scope: Hybrid 60mm f/5
Date: Night of 10-24-09
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Processed with Nebulosity 2 & Photoshop Elements 7

NGC 891 (10-24-09)

First image of this item, taken while I slept.

Imaging Scope: Orion 80ED & WO 0.8x II (f/6)
Imager: Atik 16
Exposure: 45x5'
Filter: Celestron LPR
Capture Software: Nebulosity 2
Mount: Takahashi EM-10
Guiding Camera: DSI Pro
Guiding Software: PHD
Guiding Scope: Hybrid 60mm f/5
Date: Night of 10-24-09
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Processed with Nebulosity 2 & Photoshop Elements 7

M33 (10-23-09)

First image of M33 for me. M33 is one of the nearest galaxies to us. Much smaller than the Milky Way, M33 appears to be gravitationally bound to the Andromeda Galaxy and perhaps to us.

Imaging Scope: Orion 80ED & WO 0.8x II (f/6)
Imager: Atik 16
Exposure: 51x5'
Filter: Celestron LPR
Capture Software: Nebulosity 2
Mount: Takahashi EM-10
Guiding Camera: DSI Pro
Guiding Software: PHD
Guiding Scope: Hybrid 60mm f/5
Date: Night of 10-23-09
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Processed with Nebulosity 2 & Photoshop Elements 7

NGC7635, the Bubble Nebula, Luminance

Well, this is much better than my last image of this nebula. The addition of guiding and a refractor with less light scatter help, and also the use of a filter to exclude some light pollution. I plan to save this image as luminance for color later.

Part of what I like of this image is the detail that can be seen inside the bubble. I didn't expect it.

Imaging Scope: Orion 80ED & WO 0.8x II (f/6)
Imager: Atik 16
Exposure: 36x5'
Filter: Celestron LPR
Capture Software: Nebulosity 2
Mount: Takahashi EM-10
Guiding Camera: DSI Pro
Guiding Software: PHD
Guiding Scope: Hybrid 60mm f/5
Date: Night of 10-23-09
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Processed with Nebulosity 2 & Photoshop Elements 7

NGC 281, the "Pacman Nebula" in Color, Prelim (10-17-09)

OK, this is my first color image with a monochrome camera, the first ever taken with my camera through my scope. It was taken in my own backyard. It is NGC281, a colorful nebula in Cassiopeia. The cluster of blue stars at the center of it lights up the gas surrounding it. Mostly, the glow you see comes from ionized hydrogen (and perhaps nitrogen). That's the red color. But to some extent the nebula reflects blue starlight, so the nebula shows not as red but purplish. Here is the red frame, taken through the H-alpha filter:



Imaging Scope: Orion 80ED & WO 0.8x II (f/6)
Imager: Atik 16
Exposure: 38&21&31x5' (Ha as L, Ha as R, G, B) (7.5 hours total exposure)
Filter: Astronomik 13nm Ha & NII, Meade G & B
Capture Software: Nebulosity 2
Mount: Takahashi EM-10
Guiding Camera: DSI Pro
Guiding Software: PHD
Guiding Scope: Hybrid 60mm f/5
Date: Night of 10-14-09
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Processed with Nebulosity 2, Registar, & Photoshop Elements 7

Alcyone Nebula, in the Pleiades (M45) (10-17-09)

If folks can't fit the whole of the Pleiades in their view, generally they shoot Merope, which lights up filaments of gas around it. A part of the Merope Nebula may be seen at bottom left. This, on the other hand, is the Alcyone Nebula, which lights up just northeast of Merope.

Imaging Scope: Orion 80ED & WO 0.8x II (f/6)
Imager: Atik 16
Exposure: 23x5'
Filter: Meade Blue CCD Filter
Capture Software: Nebulosity 2
Mount: Takahashi EM-10
Guiding Camera: DSI Pro
Guiding Software: PHD
Guiding Scope: Hybrid 60mm f/5
Date: Night of 10-14-09
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Processed with Nebulosity 2 & Photoshop Elements 7 with Carboni actions

NGC 281, the "Pacman Nebula"

Clouds rolled in after two hours of data. This is one I hope to come back to with color filters later.

Imaging Scope: Orion 80ED & WO 0.8x II (f/6)
Imager: Atik 16
Exposure: 25x5', or 125'
Filter: Astronomik 13nm Ha & NII
Capture Software: Nebulosity 2
Mount: Takahashi EM-10
Guiding Camera: DSI Pro
Guiding Software: PHD
Guiding Scope: Hybrid 60mm f/5
Date: Night of 10-14-09
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Processed with Nebulosity 2 & Photoshop Elements 7