Imaging telescopes or lenses: Vixen ED80SF
Imaging cameras: Canon 550D
Mounts: CELESTRON CG5-GT
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Vixen Finderscope 9x50
Guiding cameras: Orion StarShoot AutoGuider
Focal reducers: Orion Field Flattener for Short Refractors
Software: PixInsight · PHD Guiding · Binary Rivers Backyard EOS
Astrometry.net job: 88819
RA center: 21h 39' 39"
DEC center: +57° 25' 8"
Pixel scale: 2.569 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: -179.822 degrees
Field radius: 1.286 degrees
Resolution: 3000x1998
IC 1396 is a Hydrogen alpha rich region in the constellation Cepheus. It contains the more widely-known nebula IC 1396A, the Elephant's Trunk (right center), which is a concentration of gas and dust that is recently thought to be an area of star formation. The two stars in the dark patch in the middle are older, however. The nebula's shape is caused by ionization and compression from stellar wind of the young stars it contains, pushing outward. [Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant's_Trunk_nebula]
While the region is not that difficult to process in PixInsight (expect for noise and sheer volume of stars), it did require a good amount of capture time and could have used more as it is somewhat dim and requires an IR-sensing camera such as a modded DSLR or CCD.
Total integration time: 112 minutes
28x4m sub exposures
ISO800 f/7.5
Calibration:
25 Dark
25 Flat
25 Flat-dark
30 Bias
Equipment:
Vixen ED80sf 80mm APO refractor
Celestron CG-5 ASGT mount
Orion SSAG autoguider + 50mm guide scope
Canon T2i 550D DSLR (Baader IR modded)
Orion Field Flattener
Software:
Image acquisition with BackyardEOS
Guiding with PHD
Calibration/alignment/integration and post-processing with PixInsight
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