IC410 - The Tadpoles

This telescopic close-up shows off the otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410 in striking false-colours. It also features two remarkable inhabitants of the cosmic pond of gas and dust below and left of centre, the tadpoles of IC 410. The picture is a composite of images taken through narrow band filters. The bi-colour narrow band image data traces atoms in the nebula, with emission from oxygen atoms in blue, hydrogen atoms in red, and a synthetic green made from oxygen and hydrogen. Partly obscured by foreground dust, the nebula itself surrounds NGC 1893, a young galactic cluster of stars that energizes the glowing gas. Composed of denser cooler gas and dust the tadpoles are around 10 light-years long, potentially sites of ongoing star formation. Sculpted by wind and radiation from the cluster stars, their tails trail away from the cluster's central region. IC 410 lies some 12,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Auriga. (APOD text).

 

Only managed two filters before clouds came in so decided to try bi-colour processing using the technique outlined at www.starrywonders.com/bicolortechnique.html along with tone mapping. Looking to add SII subs when the sky clears again.

 

Bi-colour narrowband image: 21-22/11/15

Oxfordshire, UK

4.6 Hours Total Exposure

10x1200s Ha, 4x1200s OIII (Ha:sG:OIII)

 

Equipment:

T: Takahashi FSQ106ED

C: QSI683ws Mono CCD, Astronomik Filters (6nm Ha)

M: Celestron Advanced Vx

G: QHY5-II

 

Acquisition and Processing:

PHD2, Sequence Generator Pro, CCDStack, Photoshop CS6

Done