vdB 142 / IC 1396

[Sp@ce_d]

vdB 142 / IC 1396 The Elephants Trunk Nebula in Cepheus, some two & a half thousand light years from Earth.

For my last (& infrequent) AP post of the year, a shot of "The stuff Stars are made of".. A close in on one of my favourite targets, a beautiful area of gas & dust creating a stellar nursery, a Celestial Fireworks show to see out the old year. Imaged over several nights from 29th November - 17th December, I collected as much usable (I threw a fair few away) data as our temperamental skies would allow. I ended up with over 12 hours in total of Red, Green, Blue & Ha filters to create this HaRGB image. I'm still hoping to get enough Lum on this for an LRGB but with it becoming an early evening target disappearing into the murk & behind the hoose, I'm not holding my breath this season. I've pushed the saturation a wee bit as I'm not one for the "Salmon Pink" it so desperately wants to be!

RC8 & Atik 314L+ with AP 0.67 reducer

25 x 300 R

25 x 300 G

27 x 300 B

23 x 900 Ha (astrodon 5nm)
 

[steppenwolf]

It's a striking image - great way to finish the year!

[simmo39]

I like it!

[tooth_dr]

I don’t like it ..... I love it !

[Sp@ce_d]

Cheers for the comments folks. Happy New Year & clear skies to you all.  

[Gedan]

Super image!

[ollypenrice]

Good on you for going for those small details.

Olly

[Sp@ce_d]

3 hours ago, Gedan said:

Super image!

Cheers... I don't normally do much RGB as a bit too near the capital sky glow but I'm finding longer FL a bit easier with gradients. Having lived down in the Borders years ago I know what I'm missing too!

31 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Good on you for going for those small details.

Olly

Thanks Olly, I do find them appealing to seek out. There's probably more in the data but my processing skills have a long way to go yet. I crave more resolution & would have had the QSI on this if it hadn't been out of action (hopefully that'll be getting sorted soon thanks to Sara's (swag72) helpful advice).

Meantime.. I've a ZWO1600MM Pro sitting in front of me I'm just setting up to have a play with

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, Sp@ce_d said:

 

Meantime.. I've a ZWO1600MM Pro sitting in front of me I'm just setting up to have a play with

Woo Hoo! Allez as the say round here....

Olly