My first attempt at the Heart Nebula. Synched from ε Cas; the PicGoto centered IC 1805, which is visible even through the filter with 2 s exposures. Even though I've seen pictures before, I had no idea how beautiful this object is. It is also quite large, so this image is a 2-panel mosaic, which I'll fill in with 2 more panels next time I have good sky. Chiller at 2.5 A, T = 9-4 °C. Imaged the bottom portion 1st, 13 600-s subframes, then moved to the top portion and ran until the mount bumped, 23 600-s subframes. Did some Gaussian-blurred layer masking to put the sections together and I'm pleased with the result; I can't see the seam, and I know where it is. I could have stretched this more, and may want to try later.
Date: 6 Oct 2014
Subject: IC 1805/NGC 896, Heart Nebula
Scope: Orion ST-80 + Antares 0.5x telereducer
Filter: Baader Hα
Mount: CG-5 (Synta motors, PicGoto Simplificado)
Guiding: 9x50 Finder/Guider + DSI Ic + PHD 2.3.1 (Win 7 ASCOM)
Camera: DSI IIc chiller at 2.50 A, 3.5 to -1 °C
Acquisition: Nebulosity 3.2.1, no dither
Exposure: 13x600 s (bottom), 23x600 s (top)
Stacking: Neb 3, bad pixel map, bias included, no flats, OSC red channel extract, normalize, square, trans+rot align, 1.5 SD stack.
Processing: StarTools 1.3.5.289 Crop; Develop 65%; HDR
ptimize; Contrast; HDR: Optimize; Life:Moderate; Track Grain size 5.0 pix; Magic:Shrink 1 pix. Photoshop CC 2014 + Carboni Astronomy Tools Gaussian blurred layer combine with slight Levels adjustment to match backgrounds, Hα false color; Astro Frame.
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