NGC 896 - The Fish Head Nebula

[steppenwolf]

NGC 896 (The Fish Head Nebula)

Description

NGC 896, commonly known as the Fish Head Nebula, is a projection of nebulosity off to the north-west of the famous Heart Nebula (IC 1805). The Nebula is located in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way in the constellation Cassiopeia at a distance of 7,500 light years from Earth.

With glowing Ha emissions and dark dust lanes, it is an attractive object for imagers using a wide range of filters and this image is a complex combination of Ha, OIII and LRGB data. The Ha and OIII data were collected over two nights in October and the LRGB in a single surprise session last night (29/11/19) when after weeks of rain, we had a really clear night!

The nebula emits strongly in Ha but rather weakly in OIII which is why it appears mainly red in many images, including this one but it is overall one of the brightest regions of the Heart Nebula and was the first part of this nebula to be discovered. The nebula’s fascinating sculpted shape is driven by energy from some of the bright stars in the open cluster Melotte 15 which contains many stars 50x brighter than our own Sun and it plays host to several stellar nurseries.

Image Stats

Mount: Mesu 200
Telescope: Sky-Watcher Esprit 150
Flattener: Sky-Watcher Esprit specific
Camera: QSI 683 WSG-8
Filters: Astrodon 3nm Ha, 3nm OIII, Astronomik L, R, G and B
Subframes: 12 x 1800 sec Ha, 12 x 1800 sec OIII, 16x 600 sec Luminance, 11 x 600 sec Red, 6 x 600 sec Green, 6 x 600 sec Blue
Total Integration: 18.5 hours
Control: CCD Commander
Capture: MaxIm DL
Calibration, Stacking and Deconvolution: PixInsight
Post-Processing: PhotoShop PS3

Location

Constellation	Cassiopeia
RA	02° 28' 01.0"
DEC	+62° 11' 15.0"
Distance	7500ly

 

 

[steppenwolf]

Can anyone else see 'Jack Frost's face' in this image? It was cold enough for him to be out ........

[JamesF]

1 hour ago, steppenwolf said:

Can anyone else see 'Jack Frost's face' in this image? It was cold enough for him to be out ........

Several times I've thought that it looks like a child's head.  Rotating it about 120 degrees clockwise might make it more obvious.

James

[steppenwolf]

This is the Jack Frost apparition I was thinking of:-

 

[alan potts]

A great image Steve, I was so disappointed with this target as I can't get it all in frame. I may do better with the .79 reducer in line but I cannot get a IR/UV filter into the mix without spending what I think is a silly amount (166e + P&P) for a single filter draw and 0.3mm shim.

Its sort of nice to see what can be done focusing on one aspect of the bigger picture, i may well try that, when this weather changes for the better.

Alan

[JamesF]

7 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

This is the Jack Frost apparition I was thinking of:-

 

Oh, right, with the long nose pointing to the left?  This is the bit that I see as a child's face, when it is presented close to "the right way up":

James

[Adam1234]

Incredible image

[steppenwolf]

2 hours ago, JamesF said:

This is the bit that I see as a child's face, when it is presented close to "the right way up":

Got it! Yup I see what you see.

2 hours ago, Adam1234 said:

Incredible image

Thank you Adam, delighted that you like it.

2 hours ago, alan potts said:

A great image Steve, I was so disappointed with this target as I can't get it all in frame. I may do better with the .79 reducer in line but I cannot get a IR/UV filter into the mix without spending what I think is a silly amount (166e + P&P) for a single filter draw and 0.3mm shim.

Thanks Alan. This was one aspect of the longer focal length of the Esprit 150ED that concerned me when I first got it but now I like to 'zoom' in on specific features of larger nebulae when imaging with this instrument. A case in point is my current project which is concentrates on just a small region of the Soul Nebula, the Ha of which I captured last night:-

[alan potts]

56 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

3 hours ago, alan potts said:

A great image Steve, I was so disappointed with this target as I can't get it all in frame. I may do better with the .79 reducer in line but I cannot get a IR/UV filter into the mix without spending what I think is a silly amount (166e + P&P) for a single filter draw and 0.3mm shim.

Thanks Alan. This was one aspect of the longer focal length of the Esprit 150ED that concerned me when I first got it but now I like to 'zoom' in on specific features of larger nebulae when imaging with this instrument. A case in point is my current project which is concentrates on just a small region of the Soul Nebula, the Ha of which I captured last night:-

Edited 49 minutes ago by steppenwolf (see edit history)
Only staff can see this message

This was another one that the wheels came off, as it happened it would just fit the frame and for sure would if the reducer was in play, but I got the orientation 90 degrees out and had a lovely 2 hours of the middle bit, apart from the ends missing it was a half decent image, not in your league though.

Alan

[MartinB]

Oh this is fun!!  A fish's head, Sleeping boys, Jack Frost.  I'm afraid I've always seen something completely different but I shan't expand on that!  I've never noticed that cluster of small stars on the water's surface near where the fish's tail would be.  Great image Steve and I'm looking forward to seeing the sights hidden within the Soul Nebula.

[steppenwolf]

7 minutes ago, MartinB said:

I'm afraid I've always seen something completely different but I shan't expand on that! 

Ah, the elephant in the room. 😇

[glowingturnip]

17 hours ago, steppenwolf said:

Ah, the elephant in the room. 😇

hahaha, so I'm not the only one !  Never been keen on imaging it for that reason !