Squid nebula Ou4 (c-orgb)

[ramdom]

Also includes: v419 Cephei.

Total integration: 3280 minutes/~55 hours (*632 x 300s for O3 + **60 x 120s for OSC).

Cameras: *QHY163M (16mp mono) and **QHY247C (24mp OSC) CMOS cooled to -20 and -15 degrees C.

Telescopes: *Takahashi FC100DF Steinheil fluorite doublet and **Stellarvue SV70T triplet apochromat refractors @ f/4.9 and @ f/4.8.

Reducers: *Takahashi FC-35 (0.66x) and SFFR70-APO (0.8x).

Mount: Paramount MyT.

Filters: 1.25" Astrodon 5nm Ha, 3nm O3, 3nm S2 and **2" Baader UV-IR-Cut

Software: TheSkyX Pro, Sharpcap, PixInsight.

Inline images with reduced quality uploaded to the forum. Full resolution images of all versions are available at https://www.astrobin.com/jdaa90/ and of the primary image at http://ram.org/images/space/scope/1.4+7.4.5+6/ou4_c_orgb_632x300+60x120_3280m_55h.jpg

The Squid nebula (ou4) occupies over one degree of the night sky, representing the largest angular extent ever found in a planetary nebula. Known colloquially as the giant squid nebula, it is physically nearly 50 light years across.  This bipolar nebula could be one of the nearest of its type known, though its possible planetary nebula nature needs confirmation.  Even though it is big and close, you're not likely to find it easily. It is an extremely faint nebula emitting primarily O3 signal and resides within the larger Flying Bat nebula (not shown here, yet) which tends to overshadow it, making it a challenging target to image.

The nebula is created by the outflow of material driven by a triple system of hot, massive stars catalogued as HR8119 (blue hypergiant) as well as the pulsating variable star v419 Cephei (red supergiant) seen near the center. While their shapes do their names justice, to me, the Squid seated within the Flying Bat more resembles a hand holding an infinity stone (viewed sideways).

This is the first image of my Flying Bat and Squid project/series, which became a huge undertaking for me, ending up with a total of more than 131 hours in the final integrated widefield image of both objects and a series of three main images with a few versions of each depending on the data set used for the integration.

In the first image, I am showcasing the Squid nebula by itself using only the O3 filter data, with and without RGB stars.  The mono Squid imaged with the Takahashi FC100DF consists of ~53 hours of total exposure in O3, making it my single longest total exposure of a target with a particular framing with a specific filter/scope/camera combination.  The RGB data collected using the QHY247C with the SV70T adds another two hours to the exposure.  The total integration for the version with RGB stars is ~55 hours.  I also captured another 5.5 hours of O3 data using my SV70T which is present in the final image in the series but I haven't created a separate Squid only version with that integration yet but I might if I get around to it.

There are six versions of the Squid only framing at https://www.astrobin.com/jdaa90/ --- the difference between the two monochrome versions of the Squid is the application of HDR Multiscale Transform which reduces the halo on the central star as well as the amount of data used: (A) is based on the full ~53 hours whereas (B) is based on the best 40 hours.  (C) and (D) are corresponding versions that combine O3 in the blue channel with RGB stars along with changes in the amount of saturation and brightness. Similarly with (E) and (F), but the Squid is in monochrome mixed with the RGB stars background.

After doing different versions of the Squid by itself, I worked on a narrowfield and widefield versions where it is situated between the wingspan of Flying Bat (coming soon). I started with data from the FC100DF/QHY163M combination which results in a total exposure of 78+ hours for SHO. The SV70T/QHY163M data used for the widefield framing representing another 51+ hours was also integrated in. The RGB data using the QHY247C with the SV70T adds another two hours.  The total exposure of the final image with the narrowfield or widefield framing is 131+ hours, my longest to date!

As always, thanks for looking!

--Ram

[andrew s]

A most enjoyable image. Regards Andrew 

[MarkAR]

Excellent image.

[Erling G-P]

Amazing image -  and I do admire your dedication, putting so many hours into it!

[sward]

Astounding!

[Xiga]

Stunning image. Comfortably one of the best of this you'll see anywhere. 

[Backyard Space Dude]

Really love this, those that go the distance to grab this always put the bat in as well. So it’s really nice to see just the squid on its own, it really is fantastic!

[ramdom]

Thanks, the Bat is coming - I have a ton of data but working to integrate exposures of different lengths (7 minutes vs. 5).

 

--Ram

 

[symmetal]

Very impressive indeed! With the weather I get here it would probably take me years to get similar data.

Alan

[Mr Spock]

55hrs! Stunning image and excellent write up. 

[AKB]

Is today’s APOD yours...?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201007.html

congrats if so (or even if not!)

 

[ramdom]

Nope, not mine but thanks. I've only finished the Squid but not the entire thing yet. I'm struggling with combining exposures of different lengths (153 x 5 minutes and 204 x 7 minutes for Ha) to get the maximum SNR.  

I experimented with a bunch of options using 1/4 the data and here's a sample image with 1/4 data as to what the final image will look like: http://ram.org/images/space/downloads/Image40.jpg and you'd think the same parametres and choices that worked well for 1/4 data would continue to work well for 100% of the data but no, the whole thing has collapsed. Previously I was able to use GHDRComposition to produce seamless integrations with high SNR and now it just isn't working anymore. So I'm still playing at different ways of skinning the cat until I get something I'm satisfied with...

--Ram

[ollypenrice]

A very exceptional set of images. Hearty congratulations.

Olly

[alan potts]

Stunning image, I think 55hrs is the most I have seen and my oh my can't you tell in the result.

Alan

[astro mick]

A++ for that.

Mick.

[ramdom]

Thank you all! I appreciate it.

Also especially Olly, you probably don't remember but a few (3-4) years back, I had just gotten back into astronomy for the first time since my teenage years and I was dabbling in lofi-EAA and I saw your stunning image of M51 and I asked you managed to do something like that and you said a few things but the main thing that stuck with me was that you put in 20+ hours of time on it to start. That was one of the key exchanges that began my move from EAA to AP to eventually AP with long total exposures and complex images. So thank you, and thank you for the inspiration! 

--Ram