M20 Trifid Nebula (and M107 Cluster)

[WolfieGlos]

I've wanted to image this one for a while in RGB after some narrowband last year and the shielding of a streetlight across the road, but the added complication of a newborn along with the shorter nights has made it challenging to say the least! Originally started before our little one was born, I had a few sessions with the good weather last week to bring this up to nearly 7 hours. Data collected across 6 different sessions in RGB in all, I was hoping for more of the blue nebulosity that surrounds it's eastern and western flanks, but alas, it must be a bit fainter than I appreciated and the Nautical Darkness of this time of year could be hampering efforts. Maybe another 3-4 sessions (of circa an hour each due to the buildings across the road!) could do the trick if the Moon, weather and, crucially, the baby and wife allow for it!

Guiding in this part of the sky was horrific, generally averaging around 2" whilst imaging at 1.05"x1.05", so I'm surprised it came out as well as it did.

184 x 120s + 29 x 90s with Astronomik L2 UV/IR Filter

ZWO ASI 585mc + Starfield 102ED + 0.8 Reducer

Stacked in SIRIL, Processed in Pixinsight, XT Suite and GIMP

 

And whilst waiting for the Trifid to rise in a few of those sessions, I aimed up at M107 The Crucifix Cluster.

Consisting of 127 x 60s (02:07:00), I was surprised how faint and colour-less this glob appeared to be after processing. I think I may have over-stretched it slightly, and it's a shame that the crucifix effect is lost following stretching. The crucifix is created between the stars TYC5635-1066-1 down to TYC5635-989-1, and from 1017-1 to 1042-1. 

Guiding for this was 0.7", with the same calibration on the same evenings as M20, only that it was higher in the sky.

Comments welcome as always.

[Bluemoonjim]

Nice work!

[Sunshine]

Beautiful work! 

[WolfieGlos]

2 hours ago, Bluemoonjim said:

Nice work!

 

1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

Beautiful work! 

Thanks both 🙂

[ollypenrice]

The Trifid is the Marilyn Monroe of nebulae and you have it nicely!

Given your latitude I strongly suggest that you jump up and down and shout Woo Hoo! 

Olly

[WolfieGlos]

18 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Given your latitude I strongly suggest that you jump up and down and shout Woo Hoo! 

Olly

Thanks Olly. My wife gave me a very strange look after I followed your suggestion....

[ollypenrice]

2 minutes ago, WolfieGlos said:

Thanks Olly. My wife gave me a very strange look after I followed your suggestion....

Perfectly normal: my wife does the same.

Olly

[WolfieGlos]

10 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Perfectly normal: my wife does the same.

Olly

Is that from jumping up and down, or just you walking into the room? 

Because I also get the same in both scenarios 😁

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, WolfieGlos said:

Is that from jumping up and down, or just you walking into the room? 

Because I also get the same in both scenarios 😁

No, when I walk into the room she just barks, No, I don't know yet what we're having for dinner the evening!

lly

[WolfieGlos]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

No, when I walk into the room she just barks, No, I don't know yet what we're having for dinner the evening!

lly

Mine's currently "No, I don't know why the baby is still crying!" 😅

[CCD Imager]

Thats a marvellous image given how low to the horizon it is. Although I have a good southern horizon, I find M16, M17 tough. M20 is right down there in the murk!

[WolfieGlos]

3 hours ago, CCD Imager said:

Thats a marvellous image given how low to the horizon it is. Although I have a good southern horizon, I find M16, M17 tough. M20 is right down there in the murk!

Thanks very much Yep, it's definitely down there in the murk! It's helped by being a fairly bright target I think, since the image was already pretty good after only 2 hours of data. Give it a go 🙂

[carastro]

M45 is beautiful.  Congratulations.