The Horsehead and Flame Nebula - H-alpha
This was not the direction I was originally going in for this image but this hobby tends to throw many curveballs and I had no idea there was another one heading my way.
I started this target back at the beginning of January and was able to get all my h-alpha data then. After that I didn't get another clear night until mid February. I was lucky enough to quickly get two moonless nights to gather my RGB data. Finally, I was able to sit down at the computer and put it all together... or so I thought.
I own two astro cameras and when I chose this target I decided to use the ASI1600MM for the wider field of view. Well apparently this cameras sensor suffers from a little thing called "micro-lensing reflection" and it is a pain in the ass. It pretty much ruined my blue and green data and two nights of shooting. Alnitak, the brightest star in the frame is a definite killer for this problem.
So the only filter that didn't seem to be effected much was my h-alpha. I would have loved the end result to be in color but the h-alpha definitely makes for very nice b&w result. So, lesson learned and I will get my redemption next year!
Telescope: William Optics GT71
Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha
Frames
H-alpha: 81x300"
Total Integration: 6h 45'
The Horsehead and Flame Nebula - H-alpha
This was not the direction I was originally going in for this image but this hobby tends to throw many curveballs and I had no idea there was another one heading my way.
I started this target back at the beginning of January and was able to get all my h-alpha data then. After that I didn't get another clear night until mid February. I was lucky enough to quickly get two moonless nights to gather my RGB data. Finally, I was able to sit down at the computer and put it all together... or so I thought.
I own two astro cameras and when I chose this target I decided to use the ASI1600MM for the wider field of view. Well apparently this cameras sensor suffers from a little thing called "micro-lensing reflection" and it is a pain in the ass. It pretty much ruined my blue and green data and two nights of shooting. Alnitak, the brightest star in the frame is a definite killer for this problem.
So the only filter that didn't seem to be effected much was my h-alpha. I would have loved the end result to be in color but the h-alpha definitely makes for very nice b&w result. So, lesson learned and I will get my redemption next year!
Telescope: William Optics GT71
Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro
Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha
Frames
H-alpha: 81x300"
Total Integration: 6h 45'