Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Serpens (Ser)  ·  Contains:  Eagle nebula  ·  IC 4703  ·  M 16  ·  NGC 6611  ·  Sh2-49  ·  Star Queen nebula
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M16, Eagle/Star Queen Nebula, Hα, 23 Jul 2015, David Dearden
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M16, Eagle/Star Queen Nebula, Hα, 23 Jul 2015

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Description

Very nice conditions, but terrible RA guiding. I attempted to east-weight and apparently overdid it. Had much better performance with west weighting last time out. This nebula is quite bright in Hα. I deconvoluted in two steps: aggressively, but with the nebula core masked out, and then less aggressively (only on the nebula core). Trying to do it all in one step always left some parts looking worse. I've really struggled to process this and still am not too satisfied.

Date: 23 Jul 2015

Subject: M16, Eagle/Star Queen Nebula

Scope: Astrotech AT8IN+Antares 0.5x focal reducer

Filter: Baader 7 nm Hα

Mount: CG-5 (Synta motors, PicGoto Simplificado)

Guiding: 9x50 Finder/Guider + DSI Ic + PHD 2.5.0.1 (Win 7 ASCOM)

Camera: DSI IIc no cooling (about 24 °C)

Acquisition: Nebulosity 4.0.2, no dither

Exposure: 24x600 s

Stacking: Neb 4.0.2, bad pixel map, bias included, 33 flats, OSC extract R, normalize intensities, square, align. DSS 2x drizzle, 1.5σ median κ-σ stack.

Processing: StarTools 1.3.5.289 Crop; Develop: 74.99%; HDRptimize; Deconvolute 6.0 pix (nebula core masked out); Deconvolute 3.1 pix (nebula core only); Track 6.2 pix, smoothness 88%; Magic, shrink 1 pix; Contrast. Photoshop CC 2014 + Carboni Astronomy Tools deep space noise reduction; curves; Astroframe.

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M16, Eagle/Star Queen Nebula, Hα, 23 Jul 2015, David Dearden