Mike O'Day
Thor's Helmet ( NGC2359 ) in the constellation Canis Major - by Mike O'Day ( 500px.com/MikeODay ) - updated version 27 Jan 2018
Thor's Helmet ( NGC 2359 ) in the constellation Canis Major
This HDR image shows the bright nebula in a sea of colourful stars against a background of red from dust and HA emissions. The stars in this image range from the brightest ( bottom right, HD 56501 ) at magnitude +7.7 to more than +22. HDR capture and processing allows all of the stars to be portrayed in colour without any burnt-out highlights. The colours of the stars and nebula are as close as I can get them to the "true colours" using a "daylight colour balance" and allowing for the extinction of blue-green due to atmospheric absorption/scattering ( mean altitude during capture ~ 60deg ).
The blue star in the centre of the bubble of expanding stellar material is HD 56925 ( WR7 ) - a massive, unstable and short-lived Wolf-Rayet star that one day will detonate in a supernova.
Magnitude +11.5, RA (2000.0) 7h 15m 37s, Dec -13deg 12' 8"
Approx. 1800 light years away
Image details:
Alt. Title: " The Blue Bunny Nebula "
NGC 2359 Thor's Helmet
aka The Duck Nebula
Wolf-Rayet star #7 - HD 56925
( 11.5 mag blue star at the centre of the 'bubble' )
Haffner 6 - Open Star Cluster
( centre left of image )
Plate Solution:
Resolution ........ 1.318 arcsec/px
Rotation .......... 0.00 deg ( North is up )
Focal ............. 1398.41 mm
Field of view ..... 57' 40.8" x 38' 29.0"
Image center ...... RA: 07 18 36.509 Dec: -13 11 53.38
Telescope: Orion Optics CT12 Newtonian ( mirror 300mm, fl 1200mm, f4 ).
Corrector: ASA 2" Coma Corrector Quattro 1.175x.
Effective Focal Length / Aperture : 1410mm f4.7
Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
Guiding: TSOAG9 Off-Axis-Guider, Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2, PHD2
Camera:
Nikon D5300 (unmodified) (sensor 23.5 x 15.6mm, 6016x4016 3.9um pixels)
Location:
Blue Mountains, Australia
Moderate light pollution ( pale green zone on darksitefinder.com map )
Capture ( 18 & 19 Jan 2018 )
9 sets of sub-images with exposure duration for each set doubling ( 1s to 240s ) all at ISO 250.
116 x 240s + 5 each @ 1s to 120s
Processing ( Pixinsight - 20 Jan 18 )
Calibration: master bias, master dark and master flat
Integration in 9 sets
HDR combination
arcSinH stretch
Links:
500px.com/MikeODay
photo.net/photos/MikeODay
Thor's Helmet ( NGC2359 ) in the constellation Canis Major - by Mike O'Day ( 500px.com/MikeODay ) - updated version 27 Jan 2018
Thor's Helmet ( NGC 2359 ) in the constellation Canis Major
This HDR image shows the bright nebula in a sea of colourful stars against a background of red from dust and HA emissions. The stars in this image range from the brightest ( bottom right, HD 56501 ) at magnitude +7.7 to more than +22. HDR capture and processing allows all of the stars to be portrayed in colour without any burnt-out highlights. The colours of the stars and nebula are as close as I can get them to the "true colours" using a "daylight colour balance" and allowing for the extinction of blue-green due to atmospheric absorption/scattering ( mean altitude during capture ~ 60deg ).
The blue star in the centre of the bubble of expanding stellar material is HD 56925 ( WR7 ) - a massive, unstable and short-lived Wolf-Rayet star that one day will detonate in a supernova.
Magnitude +11.5, RA (2000.0) 7h 15m 37s, Dec -13deg 12' 8"
Approx. 1800 light years away
Image details:
Alt. Title: " The Blue Bunny Nebula "
NGC 2359 Thor's Helmet
aka The Duck Nebula
Wolf-Rayet star #7 - HD 56925
( 11.5 mag blue star at the centre of the 'bubble' )
Haffner 6 - Open Star Cluster
( centre left of image )
Plate Solution:
Resolution ........ 1.318 arcsec/px
Rotation .......... 0.00 deg ( North is up )
Focal ............. 1398.41 mm
Field of view ..... 57' 40.8" x 38' 29.0"
Image center ...... RA: 07 18 36.509 Dec: -13 11 53.38
Telescope: Orion Optics CT12 Newtonian ( mirror 300mm, fl 1200mm, f4 ).
Corrector: ASA 2" Coma Corrector Quattro 1.175x.
Effective Focal Length / Aperture : 1410mm f4.7
Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
Guiding: TSOAG9 Off-Axis-Guider, Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2, PHD2
Camera:
Nikon D5300 (unmodified) (sensor 23.5 x 15.6mm, 6016x4016 3.9um pixels)
Location:
Blue Mountains, Australia
Moderate light pollution ( pale green zone on darksitefinder.com map )
Capture ( 18 & 19 Jan 2018 )
9 sets of sub-images with exposure duration for each set doubling ( 1s to 240s ) all at ISO 250.
116 x 240s + 5 each @ 1s to 120s
Processing ( Pixinsight - 20 Jan 18 )
Calibration: master bias, master dark and master flat
Integration in 9 sets
HDR combination
arcSinH stretch
Links:
500px.com/MikeODay
photo.net/photos/MikeODay