NGC 2170 V5 (Angel Nebula)
This is another image I completed on my recent trip to Kartchner Caverns. I had been collecting data with three different combinations of camera and telescope, but just could not get the signal to noise ratio I wanted. After this last run, I had a ton of data, over 100 subframes in each channel of LRGB. With so many subs, I skipped the calibration frames and just stacked them all. Pretty much all the flaws were rejected by the algorithm, and it came out pretty clean. A little cleanup with GraExpert, plus normal processing in PI. Description below is stolen from APOD.
In this celestial abstract art composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170, also known as the Angel Nebula, shines just above the image center. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household items that abstract painters often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars featured here are also commonly found in a setting like this one -- a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The giant molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be over 60 light-years across.
Cameras: QSI 683, ASI 2600mm
Telescopes TEC 140, Vixen VC200L
Taken from multiple locations in multiple years, finished in Southern Arizona, October 2024.
Reprocessed Aug 2025 with GraXpert
NGC 2170 V5 (Angel Nebula)
This is another image I completed on my recent trip to Kartchner Caverns. I had been collecting data with three different combinations of camera and telescope, but just could not get the signal to noise ratio I wanted. After this last run, I had a ton of data, over 100 subframes in each channel of LRGB. With so many subs, I skipped the calibration frames and just stacked them all. Pretty much all the flaws were rejected by the algorithm, and it came out pretty clean. A little cleanup with GraExpert, plus normal processing in PI. Description below is stolen from APOD.
In this celestial abstract art composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170, also known as the Angel Nebula, shines just above the image center. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household items that abstract painters often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars featured here are also commonly found in a setting like this one -- a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The giant molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be over 60 light-years across.
Cameras: QSI 683, ASI 2600mm
Telescopes TEC 140, Vixen VC200L
Taken from multiple locations in multiple years, finished in Southern Arizona, October 2024.
Reprocessed Aug 2025 with GraXpert