Sharpless 2-27 in Ophiuchus

[Nightfly]

Good day. With the weather being uncooperative here in New England, I've had a chance to play around with some old images. This one is from 2008 and I was able to make a significant improvement on it.

Sharpless 2-27 is very large nebula centered around Zeta Ophiuchi. Very difficult to photograph due to its size and brightness. It is over twenty Moon diameters wide and very faint. Film and detectors well equipped for Hydrogen-Alpha (Ha) imaging reveal it best. I consider it one of the greatest objects in the Milky Way.

It is located on the Milky Way's border in Southern Ophiuchus with dense stars seen on the lower left and sparse stars seen on the upper right, away from the galaxy center.

From the observatory logbook, April 3, 2008:

"Got up at 2:50 A.M. Clear Skies. Sky Quality Meter (SQM) 21.67. Magnitude limit approx 7.0, Milky Way rising. Photographed Scorpius and Ophiuchus regions. Temperature: 28 degrees F."

"Sharpless 2-27 in Ophiuchus 165mm @ f/4 3:36-4:06 AM EST"

With an exposure of only 30 minutes at f/4 on red sensitive emulsion there is some noise in the image. Film is just the opposite of digital in this regard, longer exposures improve signal-to-noise in the final image. Another attempt with a longer exposure would sure things up a bit. Now, if this weather clears......

Sharpless 2-27 in Ophiuchus

Sharpless 2-27 in Ophiuchus by Nightfly Photography, on Flickr

[AndyUK]

Taken with film.... Wow... And what a beautiful subject...

It's strange but only last night did I come across this area on someone else's astro image website and wondered how / when I might be able to have a crack at this myself. I wonder how long it would take to put a mosaic together of this region with a 500mm FL and a 314L+ !

[Ags]

THat is stunning - you get a sense for the faintness of the nebula from the number of stars in the image.

[ollypenrice]

Very fine indeed.

Olly

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Absolutely amazing! Now I am extra jealous of owls, who can probably see this with the naked eye

[Magnum]

Very nice! I miss using film, its such a shame that Kodak are no longer going to produce elitechrome slide film, E200 was my favourite, it had almost zero reciprocity failure. I think there is still some stock around so Im going to try and find some before its too late.

Lee

[Nightfly]

Thank you all for your kind remarks. If I were to image this with modern DSLR's I would recommend an 85mm lens. That would get you close-up for a detailed image of this very large object. A modded DSLR would be advised as well.

As for E200 in 120 format. It's gone. It is still available in some outlets in 35mm however.

Jim

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Thank you all for your kind remarks. If I were to image this with modern DSLR's I would recommend an 85mm lens. That would get you close-up for a detailed image of this very large object. A modded DSLR would be advised as well.

As for E200 in 120 format. It's gone. It is still available in some outlets in 35mm however.

Jim

I should get a modded DSLR then. Something to put my Zeiss F/1.4 85mm on, AND look for a very dark site, AND have lots and lots of patience (and skill!!).

[Tom OD]

Lovely shot I don´t think I´ve seen this imaged too often. Bonus kudos for using film too.

Tom.

[MikeWilson]

Old school film and a tricky target. Lovely image!

[Tim]

Beautiful as usual Jim, thanks for sharing.

Tim