Helix Nebula

[Rodd]

The conditions for this shoot were deplorable--not only was seeing typically poor, but fires buring in California 3,000 miles away created a smoke layer at 10,000 feet, obscuring stars and nebulae for weeks.  On top of that, this target never climbs more than 25-26 degrees above the horizon for me--a location bathed in the LP of a nearby, moderately sized city.  When shooting this target, I literally could not see any stars--just a grey expanse of frustration.  The worst conditions I have ever imagined in.  I really wanted to shoot this one in LRGB, but just could not do it--so I settled for narrow band.   This is a HaSHO palette.  Overall, I am surprised at the image quality for the conditions.  Achieving sharp, small scale clarity in this target is difficult even in the best of conditions - images tend toward the softer side.  Its not until data is collected with long focal lengths and big aperture that fine scale details start to coalesce.  Maybe that is what saved me--a soft image of a soft target is not as noticiable as a soft image of a typically sharp object.

TOA 130 with .7x reducer and ASI 1600  Ha: 137 300 sec; OIII: 67 300 sec; SII 48 300 sec - about 22.7 hours

[wimvb]

Helix nebula? Sauron's eye you mean. 😉 Another great image, Rodd. But I'm a bit surprised that despite the 22 hours of data, you still have noise. Light pollution , or a really weak outer rim around this target?

[Rodd]

50 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Helix nebula? Sauron's eye you mean. 😉 Another great image, Rodd. But I'm a bit surprised that despite the 22 hours of data, you still have noise. Light pollution , or a really weak outer rim around this target?

Thanks, Wim.  I am surprised I got an image at all to tell the truth.  But the outer shell is not particularity weak if you compare it with other images of this target--definitely more than most--less than the best, but not many have even this much.  In fact, many of the best images of this target do not include much of the outer envelope as they focus on the details of the inner shells.  Anyway--until I  have the opportunity to do this target again, I will have to be satisfied with this one......its not the biggest pebble in my shoe.