NGC6866: Crescent Nebula - First Image in a While

[The Lazy Astronomer]

It really felt like a long time since I'd done any imaging (in reality, I think it was only like 4 - 5 months over the summer), but the skies cleared for a few (moonless!!!) nights earlier this month and I was able to finish off a project started last year: NGC6888 in HOO.

I added 9 hours of OIII and 1 hour of Ha to an existing 8 hours of Ha taken about this time last year, for a total of 18 hours. Unfortunately I had rotated my camera since taking the 2022 data, and all the OIII data was rotated about 90 degrees compared to the Ha, so a fairly heavy crop was needed, but one thing I was pleased about was I've still managed to get the soap bubble (just on the edge of the frame), so that was a bonus. 

Pretty much a straightforward HOO composition, with just a hint of Ha added to the green channel. I did a separate composition with more Ha added to green for the stars.

I keep looking at this thinking I may have somewhat overcooked the OIII, but the signal was actually surprisingly strong and I've already toned it down twice!

Comments welcome, so let me know your thoughts.

[geeklee]

Great result, with the crescent looking clean and detailed alongside the super stars.  OIII doesn't look overcooked at all.  Well worth the wait to complete that integration time.