Crescent Nebula - aka yet another WIP! With a hint of soap..

[James]

We've had a good run of clear skies this month so I've been out a bit of imaging rather than timelapsing. I've missed the boat somewhat with galaxies so in frustration I've turned to an object that I should be able to actually finish this calender year. Honest! I've been having guide problems when imaging to the west so I've been imaging to the east again (which works fine! ) ... I think I know the solution so I reckon I've got a 2-3 months to fix it before the Crescent ends up overhead or over to the west. The Crescent Nebula is low enough now in the east that I've managed to get a good run at some Ha.. I think I'll be leaving OIII etc to later in the year (i.e. when it's actually dark again! Does anyone know if there's any/enough SII in this object to justify the effort to collect it? 

I thought that my field of view wouldn't quite reach the spot of sky where the elusive 'Soap Bubble' Nebula sits but to my delight it is there, just! I think I'd better stop dithering as much (in the imaging sense, not the can't make my mind up sense!  )  as I'm almost at the point of having to crop into the area where it is. I will definitely get more data in Ha, I was imaging very close to the heat column from a bonfire about 100 yards away at my regular imaging spot..

The 'Soap Bubble' is a very faint planetary nebula and wasn't even discovered until 2007. I believe it was spotted by an imager (probably worried about a dust bunny!) on one of his images.. I don't think I would have spotted it in this image if I hadn't been looking.

So here's my efforts so far with the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus. 47x 2 minute exposures in Ha and I've also attached a close up of the "Soap Bubble". The bubble itself sits at the upper edge of the image - at approximately 11 o'clock relative to the Crescent nebula. In the case of both images actually clicking on them should load a slightly clearer image (the joys of jpeggery...)

Imaging details:

Scope and mount: Esprit 100 on HEQ5 Pro

Camera:  ASI1600mm-Pro

Captured, guided, controlled through The SkyX Pro on my MacBook. Processed (a bit) in Pixinsight.

47x  2 minute images in Ha (Baader 7nm Ha filter)

 

 

and a close up:

 

[whatablanker]

Some great detail in there 

[Barry-Wilson]

Well done James and a balanced composition with the Soap Bubble on one side of the Crescent and the rippled shock waves on the other.

That bubble is faint and you may still need some processing magic even when you have enough data.

I've never tried SII on this area but there are web references of SHO images in the general Sadr region - from what I've seen I'm just not sure SII will add anything above a HOO rendition.

[celestron8g8]

Very nice captures ! Awesome on the Crescent . 

[ollypenrice]

Nice. I don't know about SII since I never use it but the OIII is a thriller because it wraps the entire nebula in a kind of cling film. It's fascinating. Well done on the Bubble. It's a nightmare!!! challenge.

Olly

[steppenwolf]

Well done James, this is a tricky object (the Soap Bubble) to capture and boy did you get it close to the edge!

[tooth_dr]

What a wonderful image. Worth zooming in and having a good look around. 

[whipdry]

On 24/05/2018 at 15:07, James said:

Does anyone know if there's any/enough SII in this object to justify the effort to collect it? 

James here's 7.25 hours of SII with an Atik One 9.0 through a Baader SII 8nm filter, not the best SII filter out there!

Peter

[James]

Thank you for the comments folks

 

On 25/05/2018 at 19:23, ollypenrice said:

Nice. I don't know about SII since I never use it but the OIII is a thriller because it wraps the entire nebula in a kind of cling film. It's fascinating. Well done on the Bubble. It's a nightmare!!! challenge.

Olly

I'm really looking forward to getting the OIII for this one

1 hour ago, whipdry said:

James here's 7.25 hours of SII with an Atik One 9.0 through a Baader SII 8nm filter, not the best SII filter out there!

Peter

Thank you Peter.. OK, so there is a bit there but it'll take some time... I think come say October Im going to be discovering whether the CMOS high gain lots of subs approach will work on SII!! Knowing me I'll probably get the OIII and then want to do another object ..

James