Here is another attempt at rendering the Horse-head nebula. This time, I am using the new equipment recently acquired: the AT8IN and MPCC being the most prominent additions. A bit of work went into sorting issues in the imaging train. First, a few nights of testing helped improve the spacing of the MPCC. It is about as good as I think it can get and indicates only a slight amount of tilt is left over - likely in the sensor itself. One configuration I was using had the filter wheel much closer to the sensor but the reflections around Alnitak were incredible. I'll put up a revision showing the reflection itself. To be sure, there is still a reflection in the imaging train, but it is orders of magnitude smaller than previous.
My next struggle is with the EQ5. I spent all night on this one target and only have a bit over an hour of subframes. In previous ventures, with the Astromaster 4-5 hours would be very reasonable to expect. I believe it's clear that this rig is too much scope for this little, beginner mount. I have a few more tricks to try on this front, but it may be time to upgrade.
The Horsehead nebula, also known as Barnard 33 (B33) is located about 360pc (1174 ly) from us, according to Bally, et al.,
(Kinematics of the Horsehead). It is thought to consist of about 27 solar masses of material. Bally's study made use of carbon monoxide molecular spectroscopy to examine the relative velocities of different regions of the cloud as it is in the process of being pushed and modified by the nearby stars in this region. CO spectroscopy is a common means of studying molecular clouds and helps identify structure that is missed by looking at hydrogen spectroscopy alone, according to
these lecture notes by Al Glassgold of Berkeley.
I hope you enjoy the image! Comments and Criticism are welcome.
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