IC 63 in HαRGB

[Mike Lewis]

IC 63, also known as the "Ghost of Cassiopeia," is a nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia, about 550 light-years from Earth. Its ghostly appearance is the result of powerful ultraviolet radiation from the nearby blue-giant star Gamma Cassiopeiae, which is ionizing and eroding the gas and dust cloud. The nebula's light is scattered and reflected by the star's intense energy.

This was a fun target I had been wanting to shoot for a while. It is a bit challenging with the extremely bright star in the FOV which is necessary to frame things appropriately to tell the story, but which is then very hard to process in a pleasing way.

Larger version here: https://app.astrobin.com/i/dbqocw#c1531201

Equipment:
Poseidon-M Camera @ -5C and
Gain:125 Offset:25
Astro-Physics Mach2 Mount
Williams Optics Cat 91 Refractor, 448mm @ f/4.9
Antlia Pro Filters (3nm narrowband plus RGB)
Askar FMA180 Guide scope with ASI290MM

Software:
Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.9
Lightroom CC
Photoshop CC
N.I.N.A. Control Software
BlurXTerminator (Russell Croman)
StarXTerminator (Russell Croman)
NoiseXTerminator (Russell Croman)
Astro-Physics APCC and APPM

Light Frames:
Gain 125 / Offset 25
Red: 334 x 300 secs (2 hrs 50 mins)
Green: 34 x 300 secs (2 hrs 50 mins)
Blue: 34 x 300 secs (2 hrs 50 mins)
Hα: 35 x 600 secs (5 hrs 50 mins)

14 hrs 20 mins total

Dark Frames:
10 x 300 secs (50 mins)
10 x 600 secs (1 hr 40 mins)

 

[JimFox]

Awesome Mike! That's a fun one for sure. You just need to do the Pumpkin nebula so you can get all of the Halloween nebulas.

I agree that star is really a pain, man it's bright. But you handled it well.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Awesome Mike! That's a fun one for sure. You just need to do the Pumpkin nebula so you can get all of the Halloween nebulas.

I agree that star is really a pain, man it's bright. But you handled it well.

Thanks JIm! Yes, it makes things a bit tricky for sure. Ed mentioned the Halloween connection too over on AB - amazingly, I had not thought of that

ML