The Horsehead and Flame Nebula captured recently using the new QHY600 60 Megapixel Full Frame Monochrome CMOS camera mounted on the Takahashi 130 FSQ that we have the honor of testing for QHYCCD.
This new setup is available immediately for people wanting to subscribe to Grand Mesa Observatory's system 1.
https://grandmesaobservatory.com/equipment-rentalsIn this Hubble Palette version (SHO) the H-Alpha is mapped to green, SII is mapped to red and OIII is mapped to the blue channel. while the colors in this image are not the true colors, the narrowband filters used in the making of this Hubble Palette image reveal much more of the hidden gasses not visible in a broadband image, I used Starnet in Pixinsight to make the image Starless and then added the more natural star color by inserting stars from the LRGB image. Captured over 6 nights in September and November 2020 for a total acquisition time of 27.1 hours.
Happy Holidays from Grand Mesa Observatory
Technical Details
Captured and processed by: Terry Hancock
Location: GrandMesaObservatory.com Purdy Mesa, Colorado
Dates of Capture September 26, 28, 29th November 24, 25, 26th
LUM 12 min 6 x 120 sec
RED 14 min 7 x 120 sec
GREEN 12 min 6 x 120 sec
BLUE 10 min 5 x 120 sec
HA 620 min 62 x 600 sec
OIII 460 min 46 x 600 sec
SII 500 min 50 x 600 sec
Narrowband Filters by Chroma
Camera: QHY600 Monochrome CMOS Photographic version
Gain 60, Offset 76 in Read Mode Photographic 16 bit
Calibrated with Dark, Bias and Flat Frames
Optics: Walter Holloway's Takahashi FSQ 130 APO Refractor @ F5
Image Scale: 1.19 arcsec/pix
Field of View: 3d 7' 41.0" x 2d 3' 5.3 (127.3 x 190.1 arcmin)
EQ Mount: Paramount ME
Image Acquisition software Maxim DL6 Pre Processing in Pixinsight Post Processed in Photoshop CC
This is the prior version I did last season using the QHY367 ProC
https://www.flickr.com/photos/terryhancock/31083362747/in/dateposted/Less than one hundred light years from the Orion Nebula lies the aptly named Horsehead Nebula, another outcropping of the Orion Molecular Cloud and one of the most recognizable assemblies in the heavens. Whereas the Orion Nebula generates enough light to be visible to the unaided eye, the Horsehead has a far lower surface brightness and presents a challenge to visual observers even with large telescopes. But it’s a delight for astrophotographers and arm chair stargazers.
The Horsehead complex lies just south of the brilliant blue supergiant star Alnitak, the easternmost star in Orion’s Belt and just north of the Orion Nebula. The glowing reddish-pink region in the background is cataloged by astronomers as IC 434. Like the Orion Nebula, IC 434 is an emission nebula. It’s powered by the blazing-hot star Sigma Orionis, just south of Alnitak. Much of the nebula is permeated by tenuous streaks caused by magnetic fields in the region. This extract from The Armchair Astronomer by Brian Ventrudo and Terry Hancock
The book is available in multi-media format from Apple’s iBooks store, in high-resolution PDF format, and in standard e-book format from Amazon’s Kindle store.
https://cosmicpursuits.com/astronomy-courses-and-e-books/armchair-astronomer-volume-1-nebulae/#:~:text=The%20Armchair%20Astronomer%2C%20Volume%201,the%20science%20of%20the%20cosmos.
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