NGC2070 - The Tarantula Nebula - Explored December 1, 2021

NGC2070, The Tarantula Nebula, is a large region of ionized gas surrounding a collection of newly-forming stars at the eastern end of the stellar bar in the Large Magellanic Cloud and is located approximately 170000 light years away.

 

It has been several months of less than ideal conditions to setup for Deep Sky Astrophotography, so when we had a clear moonless night last night, I took the opportunity to capture a couple of hours on the Tarantula Nebula. I was concerned that as it had been quite a while since my last image, that I would have forgotten the process. The ASIAir and ZWO equipment worked like clockwork with no issues at all. I managed only 20 x 180 seconds (1 hour) each of Ha and Oiii, but am very happy with the final image.

 

Equipment Details:

•6 Inch GSO Ritchey-Chretien (RC) F9 1370mm Focal length

•Skywatcher NEQ6 Mount

•ZWO ASI1600mm Cmos Camera cooled to -10'c

•ZWO EFW7 Filter Wheel

•Baader 36mm unmounted Ha, Oiii

•Orion ST80 80mm Guide Scope

•ZWO ASI120mm mini Guide Camera

•ZWO ASIAIR Pro for full automation

 

Exposure Details: (HOO Combination

•Ha 20X180 seconds - Bin 1x1 (Red)

•Oiii 20X180 seconds - Bin 1x1 (Green)

•Oiii 20X180 seconds - Bin 1x1 (Blue)

 

Total Integration Time: 2 hours

Done