Focal Pointe Observatory
Astrophotography by Bob Franke

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Sh2-254 to Sh2-258 Complex


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Instrument

12.5" RCOS @  ~f/9 (2880 mm fl) 1.28 arcsec / pixel.  Zoomify image scale is 1.28 to 3.33 arcsec / pixel.

Mount

Paramount ME

Camera

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

Acquisition Data

1/11/2010 to 2/12/2010 Chino Valley, AZ... with CCDAutoPilot3 & CCDSoft.

Exposure

Lum    240 min (16 x 15 min, bin 2x2)

RGB    225 min (  5 x 15 min each, bin 2x2)

Software

  • CCDSoft, CCDStack, Photoshop CS w/ the Fits Liberator plugin. Noel Carboni's actions.

  • eXcalibrator for (b-v), (v-r) color calibration, using 18 stars from the NOMAD1 database.

  • PixFix32 (pre-beta) to repair hot/cold pixels and column defects.

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

  • PhotoShop for on-linear stretching, sharpening and LLRGB combine.

Comment

North is to the top.
The Sh2-254 to Sh2-258 complex is located about 8000 light-years away, toward the constellation of Orion. The structure is embedded in a large molecular cloud, centered between Sh2-255 and 257.