Click on image to enlargeObject: NGC 2264 (cluster - Cone Nebula is at southern tip of cluster)
Type: Cluster with Nebula
Distance: 2500 light years
Constellation: Monoceros
Date: 24 January 2009
Equipment: SXV-H9, Zeiss 135mm telephoto lens at f3.5, ATIK manual filter wheel, Astronomix H-alpha, green and blue filters
Subframes: 20 x 300 seconds in H-alpha, 10 x 300 seconds in green and blue (unguided, 2x2 binned), 16 flats/flat darks, calibrated and stacked in AIP4Win, colour channels merged in PSP7
I've had several previous attempts at imaging this area, each suffering from poor tracking or poor atmospheric conditions, or both. Once again, my luck was out on this one.
This time, I decided to shoot red (H-alpha), green and blue channels in a 2, 1, 1 rotation, just in case the clouds rolled in and stranded me with half the set of subs needed for a colour image. Sure enough, the miserable run of cloudy skies this winter relented only for a couple of hours before a high haze set in once more.
And once more, my tracking was a tad out, meaning I had to hit the frames with a deconvolution filter to round up the slight trailing on the stars. This leaves dark circles around the brighter stars and also costs some image detail. The Cone Nebula itself stands out quite nicely though, and the extent of nebulosity in the area surrounding the 'Christmas Tree Cluster' can clearly be seen, even if some of the detail is missing.
Still, I'll take what I can get given the weather. Lack of sunspots and cloud nucleation? Global warming meaning more haze at high latitudes?
Or just bloody British weather? It's all very frustrating...
Type: Cluster with Nebula
Distance: 2500 light years
Constellation: Monoceros
Date: 24 January 2009
Equipment: SXV-H9, Zeiss 135mm telephoto lens at f3.5, ATIK manual filter wheel, Astronomix H-alpha, green and blue filters
Subframes: 20 x 300 seconds in H-alpha, 10 x 300 seconds in green and blue (unguided, 2x2 binned), 16 flats/flat darks, calibrated and stacked in AIP4Win, colour channels merged in PSP7
I've had several previous attempts at imaging this area, each suffering from poor tracking or poor atmospheric conditions, or both. Once again, my luck was out on this one.
This time, I decided to shoot red (H-alpha), green and blue channels in a 2, 1, 1 rotation, just in case the clouds rolled in and stranded me with half the set of subs needed for a colour image. Sure enough, the miserable run of cloudy skies this winter relented only for a couple of hours before a high haze set in once more.
And once more, my tracking was a tad out, meaning I had to hit the frames with a deconvolution filter to round up the slight trailing on the stars. This leaves dark circles around the brighter stars and also costs some image detail. The Cone Nebula itself stands out quite nicely though, and the extent of nebulosity in the area surrounding the 'Christmas Tree Cluster' can clearly be seen, even if some of the detail is missing.
Still, I'll take what I can get given the weather. Lack of sunspots and cloud nucleation? Global warming meaning more haze at high latitudes?
Or just bloody British weather? It's all very frustrating...
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