IC1396 - protostars in the trunk (Tom Gray)

IC1396 - protostars in the trunk

A substantially new image based on data that I collected using my L-eNhance narrow band filter last week. Last night was sufficiently clear to obtain some RGB frames, which were aligned and stacked in ASTAP, before processing in Startools. I struggled to contain the saturation, and still think the stars are rather yellow, but went with the 'scientific colour constancy' default. I'm not sure how 'real' the colour is, beyond the bright hydrogen emissions, but there it is.

IC1396 is a dense region of dust and nebulosity within the star cluster IC1396 2,400 LY away. The left portion is designated IC1396B and the middle IC1396A. The bright star vdB142 lies adjacent to the dense globule at the right side within which are two protostars. The trunk extends some 20 LY and to the right (outside the FOV) lies HD 206267 which is thought to 'power' this complex emission nebula.

Original
B
Final
C

B

Description: The monochrome image based on 70 x 120s L data (through Optolong L-eNHance narrow band filter). This shows two protostars which have become visible in the globule at the end of the trunk, burning away they dust. Ref https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/422193/pdf

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C

Description: An L(NBF)LRGB version - 284m integration -140m L (NBF), 40m Synthetic luminance, 34m R, 30m Green and 40m Blue. A much better SNR has resulted in a brighter image and more background emissions, at the expense of a little more noise. The image feels a little blue, which I toned down, but shows off the leading edge of the trunk, which is being blasted by fierce UV light.

The protostars inside the terminal globule have ‘burned’ a hole in this, making these visible (along with others), which are referenced in the mono version in the mouse-over.

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

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	4603429
PixInsight job	V6A642R0NWLVHJZO7PKSVRLZ2TPVAT3Q
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	21h34m55s.72
RA (top/left)	21h32m24s.15
RA (top/right)	21h37m05s.64
RA (bottom/right)	21h37m29s.34
RA (bottom/left)	21h32m43s.81

Dec (center)	+57°29′31″.7
Dec (top/left)	+57°17′07″.8
Dec (top/right)	+57°13′13″.9
Dec (bottom/right)	+57°41′43″.6
Dec (bottom/left)	+57°45′34″.7

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