StDr 1 - a new discovery

[Petergoodhew]

StDr 1 - a possible planetary nebula in the constellation of Taurus, discovered by Xavier Strottner and Marcel Drechsler in November 2019. This is the first time it has been imaged in colour. It is extremely faint - and so 1800 second exposures binned 3x3 were necessary.

Astrodon Blue: 17x300"
Astrodon Green: 18x300"
Astrodon Red: 18x300"
Astrodon Lum: 21x300"
Astrodon OIII: 8x1800s bin 3x3
Astrodon Ha: 19x1800s bin 3x3

Total Integration: 20 hours

Captured on my dual rig in Spain.
Scopes: APM TMB LZOS 152 (6" aperture 1200mm focal length)
Cameras: QSI6120wsg8
Mount: 10Micron GM2000 HPS

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

That is amazing

[Star101]

Very nice.

Thanks for highlighting this.

[pietervdv]

Very nice, pioneering work! 

[ollypenrice]

What can we say? Bravo, a lovely job. Stunning.

Olly

[Ruud]

It's beautiful!

[gingergeek]

Excellent work Rodd

[wornish]

48 minutes ago, gingergeek said:

Excellent work Rodd

What has Rodd got to do with this post ?

Am I missing something?

[Petergoodhew]

1 hour ago, wornish said:

What has Rodd got to do with this post ?

Am I missing something?

I was wondering that too!

[gorann]

Yes, excellent indeed, as always! Did you use the star pattern to frame it or was it anything to be seen in shorter subs?

[Petergoodhew]

59 minutes ago, gorann said:

Yes, excellent indeed, as always! Did you use the star pattern to frame it or was it anything to be seen in shorter subs?

Thanks Goran,

I had the coordinates from the original discovery so I knew where to look.  I then keep increasing exposures, binning and stretching the images until something appears.  In this case almost nothing was visible with 1800s bin 2x2 subs - hence I had to go bin 3x3.

[gorann]

18 hours ago, Petergoodhew said:

Thanks Goran,

I had the coordinates from the original discovery so I knew where to look.  I then keep increasing exposures, binning and stretching the images until something appears.  In this case almost nothing was visible with 1800s bin 2x2 subs - hence I had to go bin 3x3.

Quite an effort Peter! Although I assume you did it all from a cosy armchair in London😉

[petevasey]

A cracking image, Peter of what would appear to be a very difficult target - well done, particularly to have the first colour image.  I suggest you submit it to Astronomy Now - a good candidate for Picture of the Month!  I see you imaged it remotely from what no doubt was clear dark Spanish sky.  So you've set us quite a challenge in the UK!  But there are a few clear nights forecast over the weekend - I'll have to see what my murky Northumberland sky can produce.....

Cheers,

Peter

[Petergoodhew]

5 hours ago, petevasey said:

A cracking image, Peter of what would appear to be a very difficult target - well done, particularly to have the first colour image.  I suggest you submit it to Astronomy Now - a good candidate for Picture of the Month!  I see you imaged it remotely from what no doubt was clear dark Spanish sky.  So you've set us quite a challenge in the UK!  But there are a few clear nights forecast over the weekend - I'll have to see what my murky Northumberland sky can produce.....

Cheers,

Peter

Thanks Peter. In my experience these ultra-faint targets can only be captured with very clear dark skies, and with the moon well below the horizon. Otherwise the signal gets drowned out by the sky background. Even in Spain, with 3nm/5nm Ha/OIII filters, I can't see any trace of them if the moon is above the horizon - even if it's on the other side of the sky. So now I just don't even bother trying until the moon has gone - unless I'm shooting a bright target (which I never seem to do these days!)

Peter

[Allinthehead]

Fabulous image Peter. You do like to punish yourself with these dim targets. I'm glad you do however as it's nice to see something different.