Ghost of Cassiopeia IC63 and IC59 HOO

An attempt at an HOO palette of these two nebulae. It is a very dim target to start with, and Ha dominates (as always), so my attempt to collect OIII data was something of a wasted effort. However, my new EAF worked like a charm, so not a totally wasted evening. In the end, it is basically a colorized version of the Ha data. C'est la vie!

 

IC 59 and IC 63 are a combination of faint, arc-shaped emission and reflection nebulae, located about 600 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. Together they are approximately 10 light-years across. IC 63 is known as the Ghost of Cassiopeia.

 

The brightest star in the image is Gamma Cassiopeiae, which is 19 times more massive, 65,000 times brighter, and spins 200 times faster than our sun. The radiation from Gamma Cass is so intense that it affects the IC 63/59 gas/dust cloud several light years away.

 

Rio Rancho NM Bortle 5/6 zone --

August 13, 2022

William Optics Redcat 51

ZWO 183mm pro

ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini

Optolong H-Alpha filter

ZWO ASI Air Pro

Sky-Watcher HEQ5

107 X 300s H-alpha

61 X 300s O-III

with darks bias dithering

Gain 111 at -10C

Processed in DSS and PS

Done