NGC1977 [minor objects NGC1975 & NGC1973] | The Running Man Nebula | LHaRGB

This nebula is commonly called "The Running Man Nebula" due to the somewhat identifiable outline of a man striding through the sky. The object’s catalogue number is mostly known as NGC1977, but two other NGC catalogue members lay in the field – NGC1973 and 1975. In a dark sky site, this nebula is easy to see in a small telescope, but the "running man" dark lane area can be difficult to see. The Running Man nebula lies south of the famous and substantial stellar nursery called the Orion Nebula, being some 1,500 light years away in the constellation of Orion. NGC1977 was first discovered in 1786 by William Herschel, with Heinrich Louis d'Arrest first identifying the two smaller regions of NGC 1973 [1862] and NGC 1975 [1864].

 

Processing this object I found the main subject to be quite heavily shrouded in foreground light dust. I decided to make the Running Man more prominent by reducing the intensity of this dust to allow the revealing of background emission nebula detail and contrast levels.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Full Resolution:

c2.staticflickr.com/8/7812/46173065224_57c64c273c_o.jpg

 

Information about the image:

 

Instrument: Planewave CDK 12.5 | Focal Ratio: F8

Camera: STXL-11000 + AOX | Mount: AP900GTO

Camera Sensitivity: Lum: BIN 1x1, Ha: BIN 1x1, RGB: BIN 2x2

Exposure Details: Total: 39 hours | Lum: 65 x 900 sec [16.25hr], Ha: 46x 1200 sec [15.33hr],RGB 450sec x 20 each [7.5hrs]

Viewing Location: Central Victoria, Australia.

Observatory: ScopeDome 3m

Date: January 2018 to February 2018, and September 2018 to January 2019

Software Enhancements: CCDStack2, CCDBand-Aid, PS, Pixinsight

Author: Steven Mohr

Done