SH2-129 OU4 Flying Bat and Squid Nebulas 09-Aug-2024 v4

Target: SH2-129 OU4 Flying Bat and Squid Nebulae

The Flying Bat and the Squid Nebula are challenging targets to capture. Despite being over 6 times the size of the full moon the light given off by ionized hydrogen (Red) and the ionized oxygen Blue/Green it is extremely faint. I imaged over 3 nights in order to collect the equivalent of an 19.5 hour image. Due to being in the suburbs of Houston, it took a lot of effort in processing to pull the squid out of the light polluted background. One year I'll image this again from darker skies to pull more detail from the squid.

 

Gear:

Mount: ZWO AM5

Main Cam: ZWO ASI294MC Pro @ gain 121 and 8F

Guide Cam: ZWO ASI120MM Mini with ZWO 30mm f/4 scope

Telescope: Askar 103APO w/ 0.6x reducer/flattener - 420mm f/4

Filter: Antlia ALP-T Dual Narrowband 5nm Ha and Oiii

 

 

Acquisition:

Light frames: 234 300 second subs for 19hr 30min integration

Sessions: 06, 07, and 08-Aug-2024

Moon: <4 days old

Location: Houston suburb home ~ Bortle 8

Done