IC 2118 The Witch Head

[elpajare]

This is another object that has always been difficult for me. This year, with new equipment I have tried again and I am not disgusted with the result. It is certainly not an astrophoto but as an electronically enhanced visual observation it may be worth it.

IC 2118 is an interstellar cloud of fine dust grains, about 900 light-years from Earth. It is illuminated by the nearby supergiant Rigel. Its bluish hue is caused not only by Rigel's color, but also because dust grains in the nebula reflect blue light more efficiently than they do red. The same physical process causes Earth's daytime sky to appear blue, although the scatterers in Earth's atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen.

NOTE: In the upper part there are satellite marks going through massively (at least 6 satellites) that I tried to erase with not too much luck, I'm sorry.

TSOptics RC8 + Risingcam IMX294 uncooled+UVIR

20x18 stack+Dark&Flat subs.

Startools postprocessed

Edited December 23, 2019 by elpajare

[carastro]

Well done, it's a difficult target, and a satellite super highway, a real pain to process with so many satellite trails.

Carole 

[RobertI]

Excellent result, lovely colour, and some fascinating background info. What's the f ratio of your RC8 (I use an RC6)? I'd be interested to see the original 'at the eyepice' version of the image as a comparison!

Edited December 23, 2019 by RobertI

[Mike JW]

All these interesting objects you keep posting for us - it is side tracking me from my galaxy quest!!! Many thanks. Mike

[elpajare]

Thanks for your comments, Rob.

The telescope is a Ritchie-Chretien 8 "and f8 TSoptics with a theoretical resolution, combined with the IMX294 chip, 0.58 arc. Sec per pixel. I don't use reducers and I only have a UVIR filter on.

This is the original left the camera. It is a 6 mb file in .jpg as I always use.