gorann

A few day ago I posted a rather noisy version of this object as the first light of my second RASA 8. Stars were also suffering as I have not got the sensor distance and alignment tuned in yet (still working on it). Two nights ago I managed to catch an additional 4.7 hours using my better tuned first RASA 8, so now I have 8.2 hours, which is quite resonable at f/2 and it made quite a difference. More dust and deeper colours. Earlier in March I imaged the central part of the Volcano Nebula near M81 and M82. After that I also imaged and posted a southernmost part of this area of Integrated Flux Nebulosity (IFN). The part shown here is to the north and it contains plenty of both reddish and gray IFN, similar to the IFN in the southernmost part of the Volcano Nebula. Interestingly, also like in the previous image the reddish IFN does not show as much structure as the grayish IFN, which is quite filamentous. Obviously they are two different things. I get the impression that some kind of interstellar wind is blowing from left to right in the image and the left side of the nebula looks to be hitting against some wave of pressure. A few NGC galaxies and many others can be seen in the image. All small since this is 400 mm focal length. Facts: Imaged 17 and 21 March with RASA 8 and ASI2600MC (gain 100), 123 x 4 min. EDIT: Just tried a script new to me in PI: EZ Star Reduction. Had an amazing effect and I will have to go through several of my images to see what it can do to them. So now this post first show the EZ treated image and then the original one.

Well, it clearly does the job!

Apparently the red signal in IFN is not Ha gas emission but reflected light that can still be captured with a Ha filter so I may at least give it a try (when the moon now is almost back), see: http://www.deepskycolors.com/archive/2017/01/01/Clouds-Of-Andromeda.html

For the RASA it has now become IFN season. Plenty of it this time of the year and very rarely imaged. Last night I even made an attempt at IFN around Polaris - but that was far from easy since guiding does not work there. Some very nice images there David @Skipper Billy, quality rather than quantity! I have seen some nice IFN images with the FSQ106 so maybe you could reconsider taking the rig down.

Outstanding image Richard and as I commented on your Astrobin post, the small star sizes are really impressive. I had not heard of that dual band filter before. I wonder how it compares to the slightly less expensive IDAS NBX (now NBZ) and the Optolong alternatives. What made you chose it?

Thanks a lot Paul! Many options with the two RASAs. My original plan was to put them side by side on the iOptron CEM70 and I am waiting for an adjustable dovetail clamp for a dual rig. I can then use them for an instant 2-panel mosaic, for collecting both RGB and NB on the same target, or for just increasing the integration time, but on a long clear night that is probably overkill with a RASA. Right now when I have them on separate mounts I have the freedom of chosing widely separated objects.

This is the first light with my second RASA 8 and it could have gone better. I realized too late that both collimation and camera distance were off so I first regarded this data to be crap, and focused my attention at the data I had from my other RASA the same night. This morning I had another look at it and decided to try to save it by some radical processing treatment of the stars. It is still not an image to pixel-peep, especially in the corners. However, it contains some nice Integrated Flux Nebulosity (IFN) and I am glad I gave it a chance. About a week ago I imaged the central part of the Volcano Nebula near M81 and M82. The part shown here is just outside and to the north of that image-field. It contains plenty of both reddish and gray IFN, similar to the IFN I imaged with my other RASA the same night (posted yesterday). That one was from the southernmost part of the Volcano Nebula. Interestingly, also like in the previous image the reddish IFN does not show much structure while the grayish IFN is quite filamentous. Obviously they are two different things. The new RASA 8 is on my Mesu mount (so the Esprits are now in their boxes) and equipped with an ASI2600MC. Gain was set to 100 and I managed to grab 53 x 4 min of exposures.

Thanks a lot Ram!

Thanks Callisto!

The Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN) in this particular area of Ursa Major not far from M81 and M82 is rarely imaged. NGC2976 up in the left corner of this image is that small galaxy often caught together with M81 and M82 so those more iconic galaxies are lurking just a bit above this image. With the RASA I found the IFN to be quite colourful with both grayish and reddish reflecting dust. It is generally throught that these clouds are on the outer edges of our galaxy and, unlike "ordinary" reflection nebulae, are reflecting the light of the whole galaxy, and are thereby very faint and usually not readily detected with small aperture (low f-ratio) telescopes. But clearly they are not all gray; some also reflect red even if they are not the usual Ha emitting nebulae (see http://www.deepskycolors.com/archive/2017/01/01/Clouds-Of-Andromeda.html). Indeed, that is why IFN often looks slightly reddish, as in my recently posted images from this area (the Angel and Volcano IFN nebulae), but in the area imaged here there seems to be an unusually clear separation of the gray and red IFN. Caught 17 March with a RASA8 and ASI2600MC (no filter gain 100), 57 x 4 min. Processed in PS and PI.

After I bought my first RASA 8 less tha a year ago I have become a great fan of that scope, as you can see from my Astrobin. So tonight I have the "old" RASA 8 ready in Obsy 3 (the decicated obsy I built for it) and in Obsy 1 my Esprits were just put in their boxes to give place for first light of my new second RASA 8. The plan is that both will be aiming at IFN near M81 - but the clouds are yet not co-operating......

Here is mine (for the time being). Processed in PS and a bit in PI. Great data so almost no NR applied.

Hi all, yes many good versions here and I am working on mine. To get a break I now entertained myself by downloading 10 versions posted here (which I subjectively thought looked rather good - no names mentioned), and then made a composite where every version was weighed in as 10%. So this is what the average M33 looks like right now😁. Obviously this posting is outside the competition! Cheers, Göran

Thanks a lot guys! Cool it is so thanks @Knight of Clear Skies for putting the MP4 together.

Thank you both! And thanks to @Knight of Clear Skies for making the MP4. I have now managed to make a lower resolution gif of it using a site I found on the web, https://ezgif.com/maker

Thanks a lot - very cool👍 I just posted the video in a separate thread here on SGL

@Knight of Clear Skies just did this animation of from two images I made. One stretched to mimic what this area looks like in a small aperture scope with relatively short integration time, and then the RASA 8 image I posted yeterday. You find the info on that image here: And here is the animation showing IFN appearing - rather cool I think😁 M81 M82 & Volcano Nebula.mp4

Do you think it is too big to upload here in this thread? It says that max size is 1 Gb. I could then at least put it on my Astrobin too.

I assume that is a Windows program and I am mainly a Mac person when it comes to processing. If you like you can have a go at it. Here are the two versions.

Thanks a lot Peter! Fortunately my FOV allowed me to include those as reference and then show what was lurking in their backyard. I have been playing with the idea to do a less stretched version where the IFN does not show, maybe as a gif image that can be turned on and off. Need to figure out how that is done.

Thanks Olly! This is the deepest I have got with my set-up so far and on a good SQM 21.4 night, so probably not that far from Les Granges skies. And yes I find a clear brownish tint to the IFN and in this region also a bit of Ha behind it.

Thanks Richard, much appreciated! The RASA8 - ASI2600MC combo seems to be outstanding in capturing colour even in the faintest objects.

Thanks a lot Martin! We are all itching!

That worked out really well Dave! You have managed to combine four scopes in an excellent way.

Thanks! Yes, my first image of there galaxies with a 5" refractor some years ago showed almost no IFN, so no surprise you cannot detect it. If you are on a dark site your scope may finaly get it but it would probably take many nights.