Focal Pointe Observatory
Astrophotography by Bob Franke

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vdB 14 & 15

 

Click the image for a higher resolution view. (1800 x 1350 - 1.56 MB)

Instrument

Takahashi FSQ-106ED @ f/5.0 (530 mm F.L.) Captured at 2.1 arcsec/pixel. Shown at 3.81 and 9.15 arcsec/pixel.

Mount

Losmandy G11 with Gemini L4 v1.0

Camera

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

Acquisition Data

Taken 10/5/2014 to 11/20/2014 Chino Valley, AZ.

Exposure

Lum

462 min. (66 x 7 min.)  binned 1x1

Red

343 min. (49 x 7 min.)        "

Green

427 min. (61 x 7 min.)        "

Blue

497 min. (71 x 7 min.)        "

RGB ratios are 1.00, 1.21 & 1.42

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 and create the RGB image.

  • PixInsight processing includes registering and stacking the luminance, gradient repair, non-linear stretching with HistogramTransformation and MaskedStretch, HDRMultiscaleTransform and LRGB creation.

  • PhotoShop for the final touch up.

  • Noiseware 5, a PhotoShop plug-in.

Comment

North is to the right.

These two beautiful reflection nebulae are a small part of a large dust cloud in the constellation Camelopardalis. vdB 15 is the blue area to the left and vdB 14 is the sickle-shaped blue nebula to the right. At a distance of about 3000 light years, magnitude 5 and magnitude 4 supergiants respectively illuminate them.

At the upper left-hand corner there appears to be small unnamed emission nebula. At the bottom center, is the faint red glow of the nearby emission nebula Sh2-202.