Heart Nebula
IC1805 / Melotte 15 / Collinder 26
This is the Heart Nebula (7,500 light-years away) and you see over 20,000 stars in this image. Some of the stars in this image are ~50x Sol masses but most are a lot smaller.
Technical details
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Telescope | Skywatcher Esprit 100ED (f/5.5) |
| Filter | Atik Narrowband 7nm Ha/SII/OIII |
| Coma corrector | - |
| Field flattener | Skywatcher Esprit (1x) |
| Camera | QHYCCD 268m, -25°C, Mode 1, Gain 56, Offset 30 |
| Resolution | 6252x4176 |
| Light frames | H: 6 (300s), 30m |
| S: 6 (300s), 30m | |
| O: 6 (300s), 30m | |
| 1h30m total | |
| Flat frames | 16 each (3s, per channel brightness) |
| Darkflat frames | 32 |
| Dark frames | - |
| Bias frames | - |
| Location | Kalkalpen Nationalpark, Austria |
| Local time | 2023-02-15 23:12 - 00:55 |
| Field of View | 2°25' x 1°37' (rotation 106°) |
| Image Center | 2h32m47s +61°27'41 |
Older data (2022-01-20)
We have mixed in some data with a wider field of view. Unfortunately it is also more noisy. At least now it is clear why this is called the Heart Nebula.
Technical details
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Telescope | Skywatcher Esprit 100ED (f/5.5) |
| Filter | Optolong L-eXtreme (dual-bandpass narrowband) |
| Coma corrector | - |
| Field flattener | Skywatcher Esprit (1x) |
| Camera | Canon 7D Mark II |
| Resolution | 2637 x 1755 (cropped & scaled 50%) |
| Light frames | 21/21, 10m @ ISO 1600, 3h30m (wider field) |
| Combined total exposure: 15h36m | |
| Flat frames | 93 (reused) |
| Darkflat frames | - |
| Dark frames | - |
| Bias frames | 49 (reused) |
| Location | Bolton, UK |
| Local time | 2022-01-20 01:50 - 05:56 |
| Field of View | 2°18' x 1°32' (rotation -72°) |
| Image Center | 2h34m17s 61°24'07 |
Core only (2021-02-28)
So far this is our longest exposure image, just over 12 hours (captured over two nights).
Technical details
Avarage altitude was 35°, full Moon, weather 0°C, no wind, 90% relative humidity.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Telescope | Skywatcher 200PDS (200/1000 Newton) |
| Filter | Optolong L-eXtreme (dual-bandpass narrowband) |
| Coma corrector | Skywatcher f/5 (0.9x) |
| Field flattener | Skywatcher Esprit (1x) |
| Camera | Canon 7D Mark II |
| Resolution | 2679 x 1773 (cropped & scaled) |
| Light frames | 49/51, 6m @ ISO 1600, 4h56m |
| 36/37, 12m @ ISO 1600, 7h12m | |
| 12h6m exposure in total | |
| Flat frames | 22, 21 |
| Darkflat frames | - |
| Dark frames | 10 (reused for second night via dark optimization) |
| Bias frames | 20, 20 |
| Location | Bolton, UK |
| Local time | 2021-02-26 22:07 - 03:34 (51 frames) |
| 2021-02-28 21:22 - 05:19 (37 frames) | |
| Field of View | 1°21' x 54' (rotation 92°) |
| Image Center | 2h33m19s 61°13'12 |