Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Monoceros (Mon)  ·  Contains:  HD52803  ·  HD52842  ·  HD52942  ·  HD52983  ·  HD53010  ·  HD53035  ·  HD53060  ·  HD53086  ·  HD53159  ·  HD53179  ·  HD53209  ·  HD53240  ·  HD53241  ·  HD53301  ·  HD53302  ·  HD53303  ·  HD53338  ·  HD53339  ·  HD53367  ·  HD53395  ·  HD53428  ·  HD53429  ·  HD53455  ·  HD53456  ·  HD53457  ·  HD53458  ·  HD53484  ·  HD53485  ·  HD53514  ·  HD53515  ·  And 226 more.
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IC 2177: The Firebird -- 4-Panel Mosaic, AaronW
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IC 2177: The Firebird -- 4-Panel Mosaic

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
IC 2177: The Firebird -- 4-Panel Mosaic, AaronW
Powered byPixInsight

IC 2177: The Firebird -- 4-Panel Mosaic

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Description

This 200-megapixel mosaic contains my final data of 2022 and represents the culmination of all I learned in my first year of astrophotography.

Deep sky mosaics are difficult because of the substantial time requirements and variability in imaging conditions over the months of data collection.  Building the mosaic plan, choosing the overlap percentage, managing variable moon and seeing conditions -- even the file sorting structure are all difficult and require careful thought.  To make matters worse, IC 2177 is rarely over 35 degrees above my local horizon, not to mention squarely in the flight path of planes constantly landing at LAX.

To normalize varying conditions, I captured data on every panel during all of the 28 nights I imaged this target.  I also shot 300s exposures (instead of my typical 900s) to avoid losing so many frames to low-flying planes.  Perhaps the most striking example of pareidolia in space, this framing of a cosmic flight felt right for my first 100+-hour project.

Processed in PixInsight in the Foraxx palette.

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IC 2177: The Firebird -- 4-Panel Mosaic, AaronW