Moonwashed IC 1848, the soul nebula - 12/10/08

[Whippy]

Certainly not my finest hour but at least I know that my Ha filter isn't some kind of 'magic' filter that enables you to have an imaging session no mater what. In fairness though, it was almost full Moon and quite dewey so the sky was lit up like Southend seafront, clearly not ideal conditions. Perhaps a brighter target would have been better too as my research clearly wasn't spot on here. the Deep Sky Browser (www.messier45.com) has this as a size of 10x40 arcmins. My Atik and ZS66 combination has a FOV of about 60x80 arcmins so I thought this would fit in easily BUT it's the star cluster in the middle of the nebulosity that's 10x40 not the nebula! Never mind, always next time... Perhaps when the Moon is waning, I'll have another go and maybe do a mosaic as it is a lovely object.

So, IC 1848. Total exposure time, 3hrs 10 mins (19x10 mins). Taken by an Atik 16HR with an Astronomik 13nm Ha filter in the nosepiece through a WO ZS66. Guided by a WO ZS110, QHY5 and PHD all atop an EQ6 pro. Stacked in DSS and processed Photoshop.

(click to enlarge)

Tony..

[CELESCOPE]

Brave go at it Tony , my 6nm may have produced a bit more , i just dont bother now Tony , until that pesky moon has gone . but having said that ,you have caught some nice detail in there ,another one to go back to i guess.

Rog

[ncjunk]

Seeing as I haven't been bothered to try imaging this let alone for over three hours with the moon to contend with I can't be too critical!

Nice image.

Neil C

[Tim]

Everything is in place for a super image there Tony, just get rid of the moon!

Be nice to see some colour for this bit too!

TJ

[LostNSpace]

Nice attempt Tony......There is still some nice detail in there

Mark

[MikeD]

Still a very nice result though.

I must look this one up.

Mike.

[Whippy]

Thanks all . Like I say, not my finest hour but I'm relatively happy considering the conditions and the Moon. Good thing is I can use my 'light thimble' while the imaging kit does it's stuff so I don't waste my evening staring at a screen (still an observer at heart!). I reckon this nebula is about 90x120 arcmins(ish) so for my ZS66, it'll be a 4 pane mosaic so we'll see if I can get the time to do it properly.

Tony..