Instrument

Takahashi FSQ-106ED @ f/5.0 (530 mm F.L.) Captured at 2.1 arcsec/pixel.  Shown at 6.42 and 16.70 arcsec/pixel.

Mount

Losmandy G11 with Gemini L4 v1.0

Camera

SBIG STF-8300M Self Guiding Package w/ mono ST-i, using AstroDon Ha and Baader LRGB filters.

Acquisition Data

2/13/2015 to 3/8/2015 Chino Valley, AZ... with CCDSoft & CCD Commander

Exposure

RGB combine ratios were 1.0, 1.23 & 1.44

Click here for the B&W Ha version.

Software & Processing Notes

• CCDSoft, CCDStack, PixInsight & Photoshop CS6.

• A standard image-train calibration was used, as determined by eXcalibrator v4.30, and then adjusted for altitude extinction.

• CCDStack to calibrate all sub exposures, register and stack the color data and create the four RGB panels.

• PixInsight processing includes registration and stacking the luminance and Ha data, creating the mosaic,  gradient repair, non-linear stretching with HistogramTransformation, HDRMultiscaleTransform, LocalHistogramEqualization and ACDNR for noise reduction.

• PhotoShop for the LRGB combine, adding Ha data & final touch-up.

Comment

North is to the left.

IC 2177 is a region of nebulosity that lies along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. It is a roughly circular H II region centered on the Be star HD 53367. This nebula was discovered by Welsh amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts and was described by him as, "pretty bright, extremely large, irregularly round, very diffuse."

The name Seagull Nebula is sometimes applied by amateur astronomers to this emission region, although it more properly includes the neighboring regions of star clusters, dust clouds and reflection nebulae. This latter region includes the open clusters NGC 2335 and NGC 2343 and the reflection nebula NGC 2327.

Source: Wikipedia