Barnard 33 is a dark dust cloud billowing up and obscuring part of IC 434, a diffuse emission nebula in the Orion molecular cloud, and lies around 1500 light years from earth. Resembling a 'horsehead' it was first described by Williamina Fleming in 1888, and whilst it is difficult visually, requiring dark skies and a hydrogen beta filter, it shows up well in images.
My
first image was at the time a huge achievement for me, and I have learned a lot about imaging and processing over the past few years. This is my first attempt in this winter season, using my DSI III pro 1.4MPx CCD camera, a 7nm Ha filter and 10 minutes exposures. Captured in Nebulosity v3, allowing me to dither my mount using my ST4 autoguider, the image is calibrated, stacked and aligned in Nebulosity and processed in Startools v1.8 alpha.
Processing was so much easier, better SNR with longer exposures, and no walking noise as a result of dithering, and I was able to pull out much more detail. In this framing it looks like a 'seahorse' bobbing in an ocean of hydrogen. This is a work in progress and I hope to add more data as the winter season progresses, and LRGB colour, which I will post as revisions.
When I compare this with a
recent image produced by
@Michele Vonci in UK, I am amazed by the sensitivity of modern CMOS cameras, allowing shorter exposures and integration, (and of course much higher resolution) producing a fine image of this iconic object.
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