Monday, May 12, 2014

Veil Nebula complex in Cygnus

I hate clear nights! Last week was a string of clear early dawns. I had to get out of bed very early in the mornings to set-up my gears. And in the process, waking up the dog and getting his irritated stare. My lower legs became a landing strip for mosquitoes and no amount of shaking diminished their zeal. And for what? A couple of hours each night acquiring data for this image. Its not even photogenic! But every time I look at the Cygnus constellation, I find my eyes transfixed at the area where this object is. So, I had to do it. My astro friends will hate me if they found out that I prayed for cloudy nights for this week! Its a full moon anyway . .

Technical details: 2.5 hours of H-alpha @ 10 mins per sub, 1 hour of OIII data @ 10 mins. per sub, STF8300M camera & EF200 F2.8 lens. Additional 1 hour of color from 400D DSLR @ 3 mins per sub. Bicolor (clipping masks) processed using H-alpha and OIII data. Star colors overlayed using DSLR data.