IC 405 - the 'flaming clouds' nebula (Tom Gray)

IC 405 - the 'flaming clouds' nebula

After weeks of rain, punctuated with short and frustrating attempts to image through the occasional holes in the cloud, I managed some pictures, which I thought were worth publishing.

Total 44m L(Ha)RGB captured at f3.3 (~660mm fl). I'm still trying to optimise my LX6 premier smartdrive - with Polarscope PA I could only manage 30s without trailing, in part due to the fairly poor seeing. Autoguiding (ST4 via hand controller) gave RMS ~1.5", and I settled on 2min subs to maximise exposure time, within sky limitations.

L frames were taken using my L-eNhance narrowband filer, using the 'high gain' setting on my camera; this has added more noise and significant amp glow, which is not something I usually have to contend with - 2x2 binning would have been better, which I employed for the RGB channels.

This image was lightly processed in Nebulosity, to try and preserve some detail without introducing more noise to this flaming star in Auriga. I hope to revisit once we have better conditions and a cloudless night! I've added a number of revisions to this post, to gauge which image you think is best, and would value your feedback...

B

Description: 30m L (from Optolong Enhance filter) aligned and processed in Nebulosity. Excessive stretching has brought out more detail, but also the amp glow.

Uploaded: ...

C

Description: These were the best L frames (12m) aligned and stacked in Envisage processed in Startools. I used DDP to stretch the image and reduce amp glow by moving the black point, at the expense of detail and more noise in this short integration image.

Uploaded: ...

D

Description: 30m L (from Optolong Enhance filter) automatically aligned and processed in Penumbra

Uploaded: ...

E

Description: 44m L(Ha)RGB composite image processed in Startools - too much tweaking has led to a rather noisy and untidy image.

Uploaded: ...

F

Description: My final effort - a hybrid - captured in Envisage - aligned, stacked, and stretched in Penumbra, scaled in Nebulosity and tweaked in Startools. More of the Ha emissions and tighter stars. This looks more like IC 405 the flaming star.

Uploaded: ...

Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT) Imagers
Altair Astro 183 M/C Hypercams
Optolong L-eNhance filter
UK Astro-Imaging

	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	3965316
PixInsight job	1524TWR66G8RLMNDT8PO9ZQ0T4K586RS
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	05h16m25s.64
RA (top/left)	05h14m50s.77
RA (top/right)	05h17m53s.58
RA (bottom/right)	05h18m00s.83
RA (bottom/left)	05h14m57s.14

Dec (center)	+34°28′50″.0
Dec (top/left)	+34°15′27″.5
Dec (top/right)	+34°13′32″.9
Dec (bottom/right)	+34°42′05″.5
Dec (bottom/left)	+34°44′00″.5

Image Index:

Contribution Index (beta):