Cosmic Squid and Cosmic Bat

[alexbb]

This time is Cepheus nebulae turn, more specifically Ou4 and Sh2-129, or Squid and Bat nebulae.

I went outside of the city only 5 nights for this target. One night I shot hydrogen from home, mostly for framing, but it ended up in the final image too.

In the beginning I shot with a dual setup of a ASI294MM and ASI1600MM through William Optics Star 71 II and a Lacerta 72 ED scopes. But as the Squid was lost through the sea of stars, I thought to try a better resolution for smaller stars and I took out the 150mm newton. 6h of exposure with the newton were not only equivalent in terms of light as the other almost 24h with the smaller scopes, but the stars were also much smaller and separating them from the nebula became much easier and I could end shooting this target sooner than expected and concentrate during the astROmania astrocamp on other targets. These are to be processed...

Outters 4 is incredible dim, I only caught a very faint glimpse of the central nebula in 10 minutes subs with the highly sensible ASI294MM camera. It was only discovered 10 years ago and its real origin is not yet know, only supposed, probably part of the Sh2-129 actually.

On astrobin too: https://www.astrobin.com/pyxv3l/

Next are some smaller nebulae, but first it's time for a well deserved holiday.

Clear skies!

[teoria_del_big_bang]

That is an amazing image, I just love this target.

Steve

[Craney]

That squid is a tough beast to get a grip on.

36 hours of integration......   <gulp>

Tremendous. Well done.  

[Sunshine]

A fine image! though I cannot see a bat or a squid I'll take your word for it 🤣

[Kinch]

this is one I have given up on several times.....so  for sure:  WELL DONE 👏

[newbie alert]

Superb  result on a tough target, well done to you

[carastro]

Amazing result on a ridiculously difficult target.  Really well done.

Carole 

[peter shah]

a stunning rendition...simply beautiful

[Lee_P]

Amazing!

[GalaxyGael]

This is lovely, nicely done.

[tomato]

So much detail in both the Bat and the Squid on such a challenging target. First class.

[ampleamp]

this is light years ahead of my effort! great result for your dedication

[alexbb]

Thank you all so much!

Tips for all who want to try to image it: go to a decent sky, SQM > 21, show a large aperture to it and do it quickly while it's closest to zenith. For me 6h (one night) with the 150mm newton it was enough (should I go for 200/800 instead?). Then stretch it and remove the stars. Starnet did a great job.

I'm very pleased that you like it!

Clear skies to you too!

[tooth_dr]

Really really nice. What was the filter exposure breakdown ?

[Rodd]

Beautiful.  Very realistic and natural looking

[alexbb]

Thank you, Adam and Rodd!

Adam, it's about 23h (in total) of Oiii with a WO Star 71 II and 294mm in parallel with a Lacerta 72ED and 1600mm, 6h of Oiii with a 150(144mm after the primary obturation)/750mm and 294mm + 8h total of Ha with the wide dual configuration.

Edited August 25, 2021 by alexbb

[Richard_]

Absolutely breathtaking, Alex! The colours are not over-saturated and when you zoom in, the detail is still there. It's images like this which got me into this hobby, thanks for sharing your image and some hints for capturing it 🙂

[Chris-h]

Stunning! I have it on my list as well, was going to try it with my Samyang 135. But as you discovered, I am worried about losing it to the stars

[AMcD]

Deeply impressive, epic work.  

[alexbb]

Thank you all again!

On 28/08/2021 at 00:50, Chris-h said:

I am worried about losing it to the stars

Removing all the stars makes processing easier, but using a larger aperture and focal lenght eases also a lot. The nebula appears only about 3 times larger than the Moon.