Instrument

12.5" RCOS @  ~f/9 (2880 mm fl) 1.28 arcsec / pixel.  The Zoomify image scale is 1.28 to 3.20 arcsec / pixel.

Mount

Paramount ME

Camera

SBIG STL-11000 w/ internal filter wheel, AstroDon Gen II Filters

Acquisition Data

10/31/2010 to 1/28/2011 Chino Valley, AZ... with CCDAutoPilot3 & CCDSoft.  AOL guided

Exposure

SII   750 min. (25 x 30 min. bin 1x1)

Hα    600 min. (20 x 30 min. bin 1x1)

OIII  750 min. (25 x 30 min. bin 1x1)

RGB  360 min. ( 8 x 15 min. each, binned 2x2)

Click here for the RGB color image.

Click here for an Ha filtered b/w image.

Software

• CCDSoft, CCDStack, Photoshop CS and Noel Carboni's actions..

• PixFix32 (pre-beta) to repair column defects.

• CCDStack to calibrate, register, normalize, data reject, combine the sub exposures.

• PhotoShop for color combine &  on-linear stretching.

• Noiseware Pro, a PhotoShop plug-in.

North at about 4:00 o'clock., the image is rotated 135° clockwise.

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission/reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga, about 1,500 light-years from Earth. The rippling dust and gas lanes surround the star AE Aurigae and give the impression that the star is aflame... hence the nebula's popular name.

The star, AE Aurigae, creates the red glow by energizing the nebula's hydrogen. The blush areas are created by dust that scatters and reflects the stars blue light.

The colors in the top image follow the spirit of the Hubble Palette. This palette uses SII, Ha and OIII filters mapped to the red, green and blue channels respectively.

The bottom image, just because it can be done, is a 50-50 blend of this Hubble Palette image and the RGB shot.