IC 410 - The Tadpole Nebula

[PhotoGav]

The Tadpole Nebula, IC 410, is an emission nebula some 12,000 light years away in the constellation of Auriga. This expanse of excited hydrodgen gas is over 100 light years across. At the centre of the nebula is the open cluster, NGC 1893, a collection of relatively young bright stars at around 4 million years old. The stellar wind from these stars is thought to be responsible for pushing out the gas and dust to create the sculpted clouds surrounding the cluster. It is hard not to notice the two 'tadpoles' - streams of gas and dust that stretch about 10 light years away from the centre of the nebula. They consist of denser, cooler material than the main nebula and are likely sites of ongoing star formation.

 

 

Tech Spec:
Celestron EdgeHD 800 with 0.79x Reducer, QSI 683-WSG, HEQ5 Pro, Baader 1.25" filters
Ha = 33 x 1800s
OIII = 30 x 1800s
RGB = 15 x 180s each
TOTAL = 33 hours 45 minutes

This image is basically a bi-colour image with Ha in the red channel, OIII in the blue channel and a mix in the green channel (I used Noel's Actions to create a synth green channel). The RGB data was used to colour the stars. All integration and an initial development stretch was done in APP. I also combined the RGB data in APP. I then took the stacks to Photoshop for the majority of the processing. I am pretty happy with the overall result, though it does have a slight softness to it, as all Schmidt-Cassegrain images tend to. I can live with that though! I hope you like it and I look forward to seeing your thoughts and comments.

Clear skies!

 

[Allinthehead]

That's fantastic. Great colour and detail. Nicely processed too.

[swag72]

Very nice Gav...... I love the colour and those tadpoles really pop........ ????

[souls33k3r]

Really liking this version. Nice one matey 

[Barry-Wilson]

Lovely image Gav, especially the Tadpoles themselves.

You should be very please with such a beautiful and accomplished image .

[PhotoGav]

Thank you for your encouraging comments @Allinthehead, @swag72, @souls33k3r & @Barry-Wilson.

Sara & Barry, I’m delighted that you have specified the Tadpoles themselves as I spent quite a portion of the processing time concentrating on bringing them out as much as possible, without totally ruining the ‘science’ of the image!