Dreyer's Nebula - IC2169

[Skipper Billy]

Last night was a bit of a write-off. Guiding was all over the place and turned out to be a combination of polar alignment having shifted (5 earthquakes in a week) and very whispy high cloud. Then the cloud really rolled in so I only managed to get about 45 mins on the blue channel and no red or green. I was imaging a new target (for me) the Dreyer's Nebula - IC2169 - which it seems is rarely imaged. I decided to process the feeble data I did get and this is the result - just 9 x 300 second subs in the Blue channel. It looks like its worth pursuing when conditions allow. This is just stacked and stretched - no processing. (I need a new Blue filter - it always gives horrible halos on the big stars on the Blue channel - (hello is that Mr Astrodon - I have a kidney for sale!!)

 

masterLight_BIN-1_4499x3599_EXPOSURE-300.00s_FILTER-Blue_mono.tif

Edited February 8 by Skipper Billy
Added Jpeg

[AKB]

14 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

of polar alignment having shifted (5 earthquakes in a week)

Really??  Not on my current list of problems!  Sinking into gravel and silt more likely here.

Tony

 

[Skipper Billy]

21 minutes ago, AKB said:

Really??  Not on my current list of problems!  Sinking into gravel and silt more likely here.

Yes really! One of them was 3.3 mag and cracked a wall !

[Dunc78]

Will be nice when all the other channels added.

[Sp@ce_d]

Great to see you back in action. That definitely looks like a worthwhile target to pursue.. earthquakes aside! 

[Skipper Billy]

49 minutes ago, Sp@ce_d said:

Great to see you back in action. That definitely looks like a worthwhile target to pursue.. earthquakes aside! 

Cheers!!

[windjammer]

The curse of the blue haloes!  I have the same with astronomik blue - if you try the astrodon I would be interested in your report of any improvement.  I sometimes wonder if the high cloud you mention (which seems to be almost permanent nowadays) also scatters the blue ?  My last RGB outing I replaced the blue with a narrowband Hb filter and was pleased with the end result, so worth a try if you have a mind.  

As a last absolute cosmetic cheat, I find using the affinity photo inpaint tool works well if you don't know it:  after star extraction use the inpaint tool to erase the haloes from the background.  There are only a half dozen or so  objectionables so not too much work, though you might have to repeat a few times as stretching proceeds. If some of the blighters persist in the star mask they can be edited out and replaced with less stretched versions pasted in over the top.  Just don't tell anyone!  Nothing to see here etc.

Is the filter also giving the off-centre haloes, which seem to change orientation across the frame ?

A very good looking pic by the way!

[windjammer]

Here is a quick thrash - hope you don't mind