Sh2-113 and Sh2-114: Two Flying Dragons in Cygnus

[gorann]

This is data from October last year that I now processed using the latest version of Star XTerminator and also a bit of the excellent Noise XTerminator. It is Ha and Oiii caught with my dual-RASA rig using the very likable IDAS NBZ filters during monlight. I highly recommend this filter for an OSC. It is halo-free and the results are almost RGB like with a lot of star colour.

The best known object of these very faint structures is The Flying Dragon (Sh2-114) up to the left. However, it clearly have a quite similar companion to the right of it (Sh2-113), although that poor dragon appears to have lost its neck😥. @ollypenrice recently pointed out that he often saw two very similar structures next to each other, so this may be another example of this. Then there is also a massive and relatively bright Ha area dominating the right half of the image, which is LBN 321. Not much Oiii signal to be seen in this area.

The Flying Dragon is quite difficult to catch, so f/2 and a dark site (mine is Bortle 2-3) helps.
 

Materials and Methods: RASA8 with ASI2600MC and IDAS NBZ filter. 84 x 10 min = 14 hours. Processed in PI and PS.

Cheers, Göran

Edited November 16, 2022 by gorann

[symmetal]

Thanks for posting Göran. Plenty of extra detail revealed compared to other images. It reveals that all the objects in view are actually part of a whole and not isolated features. 😃

Alan

[gorann]

1 hour ago, symmetal said:

Thanks for posting Göran. Plenty of extra detail revealed compared to other images. It reveals that all the objects in view are actually part of a whole and not isolated features. 😃

Alan

Thanks Alan!

Yes, the RASA is oustanding for getting deep enough to reveal such connections. Actually there are rarely any completely dark sky to be seen in RASA images, as you are now probably experiencing with your new RASA11😄

[symmetal]

4 hours ago, gorann said:

Actually there are rarely any completely dark sky to be seen in RASA images, as you are now probably experiencing with your new RASA11😄

Unfortunately the weather hasn't been kind the past few weeks and I've just had the odd hour or so with gaps in the clouds to check collimation and camera spacing.  The collimation was off and it took a whole turn on one of the screws to get it right. Spacing seems a bit more critical compared to the RASA 8 and am at 56.0mm at the moment as the recommended 55mm gave elongated edge stars. The ASI 2600 is pretty good now but the ASI 6200 was still showing poor stars in one corner despite the tilt test jig being spot on. Waiting for the next clear night to continue. None of the RASA 8 asymmetric flaring though. 😊

The Moon's been out and the 2600MC sky background was swamping the read noise by a factor of 5 at 6 secs exposure. The 6200MM was doing it at 2 secs with a luminance filter. 😲 Waiting for a moonless night to get a more useful exposure value.

I really need to get fast NB filters for the 6200 and the 2" Astronomik 6nm fast filters are £650 each. 😬 Astronomik are only 1mm thick so they all need to be the same manufacturer to maintain the spacing.

As the RASA 11 is the same FL as the FLT98, the FLT98 looks a bit redundant at the moment. 

Alan

Edited November 16, 2022 by symmetal

[gorann]

3 hours ago, symmetal said:

Unfortunately the weather hasn't been kind the past few weeks and I've just had the odd hour or so with gaps in the clouds to check collimation and camera spacing.  The collimation was off and it took a whole turn on one of the screws to get it right. Spacing seems a bit more critical compared to the RASA 8 and am at 56.0mm at the moment as the recommended 55mm gave elongated edge stars. The ASI 2600 is pretty good now but the ASI 6200 was still showing poor stars in one corner despite the tilt test jig being spot on. Waiting for the next clear night to continue. None of the RASA 8 asymmetric flaring though. 😊

The Moon's been out and the 2600MC sky background was swamping the read noise by a factor of 5 at 6 secs exposure. The 6200MM was doing it at 2 secs with a luminance filter. 😲 Waiting for a moonless night to get a more useful exposure value.

I really need to get fast NB filters for the 6200 and the 2" Astronomik 6nm fast filters are £650 each. 😬 Astronomik are only 1mm thick so they all need to be the same manufacturer to maintain the spacing.

As the RASA 11 is the same FL as the FLT98, the FLT98 looks a bit redundant at the moment. 

Alan

Well, you soon get there I trust! Good thing with the RASA11 is that there is enough space for a tilt plate if you find it necessary. For the ASI2600MC, an IDAS NBZ filter is a great investment when the moon is up.

[Grant]

Great image Gorann and lots of detail coming out in that background!

[gorann]

8 hours ago, Grant said:

Great image Gorann and lots of detail coming out in that background!

Thanks a lot Grant!

CS, Göran