The Butterfly Nebula (IC1318) -- Bortle 8, OSC

[Lee_P]

Here's The Butterfly Nebula in Cygnus. As ever, shot from Bristol city centre, where the light pollution gets worse every night, or so it seems! I combined Optolong L-Ultimate data with Askar D2 to produce SHO using my OSC camera, and sprinkled RGB stars on the top. Imaging details below, and more info on my website.

 

* August 2023
* Bristol, UK (Bortle 8 )
* Telescope: Askar 130PHQ Flatfield Astrograph
* Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO
* Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R PRO
* Guide: William Optics 50mm Guidescope with 1.25″ RotoLock; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
* Control: ASIAIR Plus
* Software: PixInsight, Lightroom
* Filters:
– Optolong L-Ultimate (Ha / OIII): 450 x 120 seconds (15 hours)
– Askar Colour Magic D2 (SII / OIII) : 600 x 120 seconds (20 hours)
– No filter (for RGB stars): 15 x 120 seconds (30 mins)

Total exposure time: 35.5 hours

By Lee Pullen

[AMcD]

Lovely depth and detail Lee. 👏

[carastro]

A great result, those Optolong Filters work very well with OSC cameras.

Carole

[Roy Foreman]

Nice image. Wonderfully sharp and great colours

[simmo39]

V nice Lee.

[maw lod qan]

Bortle 8, that is amazing.

[Lee_P]

On 26/08/2023 at 22:10, AMcD said:

Lovely depth and detail Lee. 👏

Thanks, I think the long integration time really helped.

On 26/08/2023 at 22:28, carastro said:

A great result, those Optolong Filters work very well with OSC cameras.

Carole

Yep, the Optolong L-Ultimate is excellent, and the Askar D2  is good for if you want to take things to the next level.

On 27/08/2023 at 09:07, Roy Foreman said:

Nice image. Wonderfully sharp and great colours

Thanks! I oversharpened it a bit, but I quite like the aesthetics of the effect.

On 27/08/2023 at 09:33, simmo39 said:

V nice Lee.

Thanks!

On 27/08/2023 at 09:44, maw lod qan said:

Bortle 8, that is amazing.

Crazy eh, I'm always disappointed when I see the raw stacks but it's amazing what can be eventually pulled out with processing.

[MartinB]

Superb dust detail.  It goes to show that when the dust is set against a background of bright nebulosity it is possible to do it justice.  Well done!