Gathering of Winter Nebulae (IC405, IC410, IC417, NGC1931)

ic410
All Images Copyright Steve Cannistra

Please click here for the medium widefield version
Please click here for the small cropped version
Please click here for a medium cropped version
Please click here for a larger cropped version



Characteristics:
Size: T
he FOV shown here is approximately 3.9 x 3.9 degrees, at an image scale of 3.5"/pixel
RA (J2000): 5h 22m 44s
Dec (J2000): +33 degrees 24' 43"

Description:
The constellation Auriga is host to a wide swath of Ha emission nebulae visible during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere, including IC405 (Flaming Star Nebula), IC 410, IC 417, and NGC1931 shown above.   Also shown at the bottom edge, just to the right of center, is the star cluster NGC1912.  IC405 is the statuesque nebula located in the upper left quadrant, IC410 is located in the upper right quadrant, and IC417 is located in the lower right quadrant.  Please check the larger sized images in the links above (especially the cropped views) for more detail.  More information about this interesting region, including the origin of the star AE Auriga that is responsible for the blue reflection component of IC405, can be found on Rob Gendler's site as well as on the APOD site.

Photographic Details:
Dates:  January 14 and 15, 2012
Scope:  Takahashi FSQ106 at f5 on the Takahashi NJP Mount
Autoguider:  SBIG ST-402 with 60mm guidescope, focal length 227mm
Camera:  Apogee U16M at -20C, with 7 position 50mm square filter wheel (Apogee FW50-7S)
Filters: 
Baader Ha narrowband filter; Baader RGB filters
Exposures:  Ha, 4 hours; R, 3 hours; G, 3 hours; B, 4 hours, all unbinned.  Total exposure 14 hours.  Ambient temperature was around 8 degrees F during this imaging session (glad that I had automation software!)
Post-processing:  Calibrated, aligned and stacked in Maxim, followed by DDP in ImagesPlus (IP).  Further processing in Photoshop CS5


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