NGC2237 Rosette Nebula in HA

NGC2237_ROSETTE_HA_FINAL_C

A quick go on this spectacular nebula, as it is currently too low on the horizon for serious light gathering.
I hope next year’s weather will allow more data!

Target details
The Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49) is a large, circular H II region located near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy. The open cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) is closely associated with the nebulosity, the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula’s matter.
The complex has the following NGC designations:
NGC 2237 – Part of the nebulous region (Also used to denote whole nebula)
NGC 2238 – Part of the nebulous region
NGC 2239 – Part of the nebulous region (Discovered by John Herschel)
NGC 2244 – The open cluster within the nebula (Discovered by John Flamsteed in 1690)
NGC 2246 – Part of the nebulous region

The cluster and nebula lie at a distance of some 5,200 light-years from Earth (although estimates of the distance vary considerably, down to 4,900 light-years.) and measure roughly 130 light years in diameter. The radiation from the young stars excites the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit radiation themselves producing the emission nebula we see. The mass of the nebula is estimated to be around 10,000 solar masses.
It is believed that stellar winds from a group of O and B stars are exerting pressure on interstellar clouds to cause compression, followed by star formation in the nebula. This star formation is currently still ongoing.
A survey of the nebula with the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2001 has revealed the presence of very hot, young stars at the core of the Rosette Nebula. These stars have heated the surrounding gas to a temperature in the order of 6 million kelvins causing them to emit copious amounts of X-rays.

Gear used

Sky-Watcher 80ED Pro Black Diamond
SBIG 8300M
HEQ5 Pro
Guiding camera: QHY CCD QHY5 mono
Focal reducer: Skywatcher .85x Focal Reducer & Corrector
Filters: Baader 7nm Ha 2”
Starlight Xpress Starlight Xpress FW 5*2”

Processed in PixInsight

Resolution: 1743×1380
Dates: April 12, 2015
Frames: Baader 7nm Ha 2”: 10×600″ -5C bin 2×2
Integration: 1.7 hours
Darks: ~20
Flats: ~20
Bias: ~20
Avg. Moon age: 21.98 days
Avg. Moon phase: 51.77%
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 3.00
Temperature: 3.00
Locations: Amarynthos obs, Amarynthos, Evia, Greece

Mel15 On IC1805 Heart nebula in HA

Here is a quickie of The Heart nebula or IC1805! Material for mosaic probably but I am waiting on the flattener/reducer before I begin with the big projects 😀
Technical details :

Sky-Watcher 80ED Pro Black Diamond
SBIG 8300M
HEQ5 Pro
Guiding camera: QHY CCD QHY5 mono
Filters: Baader 7nm Ha 2”
Accessories: Starlight Xpress Starlight Xpress FW 5*2”

Resolution: 3352×2532
Dates: Oct. 22, 2014
Locations: Home obs
Frames: 30×900″
Integration: 7.5 hours
Avg. Moon age: 27.71 days
Avg. Moon phase: 3.69%

Darks: ~20
Flats: ~20
Bias: ~100

Mean FWHM: 1.60
Temperature: 11.00

NGC7380 – The Wizard nebula in HA

NGC7380 Wizard nebula in HA
NGC7380 Wizard Nebula in HA

NGC 7380 (also known as the Wizard Nebula) is an open cluster discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. William Herschel included his sister’s discovery in his catalogue and labelled it H VIII.77. It is also known as 142 in the 1959 Sharpless catalogue (Sh2-142). This reasonably large nebula is located in Cepheus. It is extremely difficult to observe visually, usually requiring very dark skies and an O-III filter.

Technical Details
Sky-Watcher 80ED Pro Black Diamond
SBIG 8300M
HEQ5 Pro
QHY CCD QHY5 mono
Frames: Baader 7nm Ha 2”: 34×1200″ -5C bin 1×1
Starlight Xpress Starlight Xpress FW 5*2″
3003×2166
Dates: Oct. 5, 2014
Locations: Home obs
Integration: 11.3 hours

Darks: ~10
Flats: ~10
Bias: ~100

Avg. Moon age: 10.86 days
Avg. Moon phase: 83.71%
Mean SQM: 17.00
Mean FWHM: 1.50
Temperature: 15.00
RA center: 341.867 degrees
DEC center: 58.074 degrees
Orientation: 179.381 degrees
Field radius: 0.956 degrees

My first CCD attempt is the NGC7380 The wizard nebula in HA (for now) 🙂 It took 4 nights to gather the data, as I am still battling with meridian flips, ADU’s, Dark noise and the rest of the CCD parameters…

Enjoy!