IC 1848, also known as “The Soul Nebula, ”The Embryo Nebula,” Sharpless 2-199, LBN 667, and Westerhout 5, is an emission nebula with an associated cluster of young hot stars located ~6,500 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. IC 1848 actually refers to an open cluster embedded in the nebula but is most often used to identify this target.
This image results from 6.8 hours of narrowband data and is rendered in the SHO Hubble Palette.
The data collection began over two nights ending in October - the 21st and the 22nd. This capture session ended by illness, and at that time, I did not yet have sufficient data to make processing worthwhile. So I waited until I had another clear night - which turned out to be a month later on Nov 23. At that time, I could collect another three hours of data.
This image was shot on my Askar FRA400 Scope platform, which sports the classic ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro camera.
What makes this project a little unusual is that I was using an Ioptron CEM26 mount for the two nights in October, and by the time the chance for more data collection came around, I had shifted the platform over to a new ZWO AM5 Harmonic Mount!
I have to admit that I was a little nervous making this switch as I had no personal experience with harmonic mount technology, and the AM5 is a new design from an outfit that is not known for mounts. Another concern was that I know ZWO components work well within their ASIAIR ecosystem, but I would be using the ASCOM software platform and a laptop to drive things, and I was not sure in what state I would find their driver software.
I was very happy with how things worked out! I was measuring an RMS error of 0.38 - the best error I had ever achieved with a mount! More details can be seen in the main post link below.
The image was processed by using a Synthetic Computed Luminance image and extensive use of starless processing workflows. With this approach, the luminance processing path is designed to enhance detail and sharpness, while the color processing path is dedicated to producing good color and low noise. The two images are then folded together to create a final image that inherits the best attributes of both images.
The full story behind this image, along with a detailed processing walkthrough, can be found at:
https://cosgrovescosmos.com/projects/ic1848-11-23-22A video of the blink analysis for this data is also available if interested:
https://youtu.be/pOF0YUio91AFinally, a video on my YouTube channel provides an additional introduction and discussion around this imaging project:
https://youtu.be/_9e4MVwNn5UPlease consider liking and following my fledgling YouTube channel! ( If nothing else you can laugh at my attempts to learn the video side of things!)
Thanks for looking!
Pat
Comments