Astro Session - December 27, 2017

December 27, 2017

California Nebula NGC 1499, an emission nebula in the constellation Perseus. Named after the Golden State because of the similarity in shape--and this is just the lower portion, basically Santa Barbara on down, although depending on how you match up coastline similarities you might be able to squeeze in everything up to Pismo Beach. I attempted to do some Ha + RGB color process stuff with this set, and I think it worked out. I overloaded the red channel to bring out some contrasting shades, and the GB didn't contribute much. NGC 1499 is mostly ionized hydrogen, and it's massive, almost 2.5°. I'd have to take two or three combined shots to get the whole nebula in one image with the camera+telescope FOV of my setup: Atik414Ex mono CCD, William Optics GT-81 + 0.8x Field Flattener/Reducer f/4.7, CEM25P EQ mount, Baader and Astronomik filters, WO 50mm guidescope with ZWO ASI120S-MM guide cam, INDI/KStars/Ekos observatory control.