Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Perseus (Per)  ·  Contains:  Extremely wide field
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California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light, georgian82
California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light
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California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light, georgian82
California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light
Powered byPixInsight

California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

This is the first light of the Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED lens. I used it wide open at f/2.8 to collect more photons but the lens wide open is not very sharp and shows a significant amount of CA.

This image is composed of 85 x 3-minutes exposures at f/2.8 and ISO 800, all unguided on Astrotrac. The camera is used inside a thermoelectric cooling box and the sensor temperature was between 25F and 30F during the imaging sessions (20-25F below ambient temperature).

This image is slightly cropped and it represents the real field of view with my camera sensor. It was also drizzled in PixInsight to increase the pixel size.

Comments

Revisions

  • California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light, georgian82
    Original
  • California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light, georgian82
    B
  • California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light, georgian82
    C
  • Final
    California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light, georgian82
    D

B

Description: Updated version. Still working on it...

Uploaded: ...

C

Description: I added another 20 light frames in order to bring out some of the nebulosity surrounding the California Nebula. I processed it differently from version A and B in that I stretched the image a lot to bring out the data. Now I need to work on noise reduction.

Uploaded: ...

D

Description: I increased the dynamic range and applied some noise reduction. I am considering decreasing the amount of stars present.

Uploaded: ...

Sky plot

Sky plot

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California Nebula - Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED first light, georgian82