SH2-240 - The Spaghetti Nebula

Simeis 147, also known as the Spaghetti Nebula, SNR G180.0-01.7 or Sharpless 2-240, is a supernova remnant (about 3 degrees across in apparent diameter) in the Milky Way, straddling the border between the constellations Auriga and Taurus.
Discovered in 1952 at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory by Grigory Shajn and his team using a Schmidt camera and a narrowband filter that was close to the Hydrogen Alpha transmission line. It is difficult to observe due to its extremely low brightness. This discovery was part of a survey conducted between 1945 and 1955 most likely using captured German equipment, as the observatory was practically destroyed during WWII. The Schmidt camera had a field of view of 175'. Many previously unknown hydrogen nebula were discovered this way, which did not appear in regular photographs.

This was the most difficult target I’ve captured so far…  I ended up choosing my William Optics Redcat 51 for the main scope as I wanted the flattest stars I could get using my new ASi2600MM-PRO and ended up taking 107 ten minute subs (17.83 hours) rejecting 27 subs due to clouds or low SNR.  I ended up using the best 80 x 600s subs for a total of 13.33 hours total integration time. I went back and checked the individual subs used for this 13 hour 20 minute stack and It turns out all of light frames that made the final cut were collected at the Bortle 4 dark site over 4 nights at my local astronomy club‘s annual star party at Withlacoochee River Park in Dade City Florida. The night of shooting Ha and OIII from my Bortle 6 backyard didn’t make the cut. It was a lot of effort driving to and from the site each day but , I think it was definitely worth it on multiple levels beyond  having less light pollution. I met some amazing people and learned a lot. It’s great to be around people that are just as passionate about astrophotography and astronomy. Clear skies!