Astronomical League

AstroRVing

Capturing light in the dark on the road

Gallery Messier Objects EQ6-R Pec StarNet++ Subscribe

IC 5070 Pelican Nebula

Holley, New York

  • Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
  • Optics: William Optics Zenithstar 81
  • Focal Length: 559mm
  • Flattener: FLAT 6AIII .80 @ 447mm
  • Filter: Optolong L-eNhance
  • Camera: ZWO AWSI294MC Pro
  • Guide Camera: ZWO 120mm Mini
  • Guide Scope: WO f/4 50mm
  • Lights: 20
  • Darks: 25
  • Gain: 120, Offset: 0, Temp: -10C
  • Exposure: 180 secs x 20 exposures = total 1 hour
  • Software: SharpCap Pro, APT, PHD2, Stellarium, DSS, PS
  • Bortle Class: 4

My first light with the ASI294MC Pro. Spent some time getting APT setup for the camera and understanding some parameters and getting the cooling working. I really liked using the Live View since I could actually see the sky vs using the DSLR which only the brightest of stars would show. This allowed me to center targets easier and to do my focusing. Plate-solving worked very well for syncing Stellarium. Although I do like Cartes du Ciel better since you can click any part of the sky and have the mount move there. So doing minor adjustments is easier. I took 20 images of the the Pelican Nebula before moving on to the Soul Nebula as I wanted to test the camera on different targets. The next day I proceeded to take the darks but I took them while I was outside and the camera was in the daylight so I think there was light bleeding into the camera. So the next day I put the camera into a dark place and retook my darks and it seemed to help with the amp glow. All together I took 45 darks but will add more later. After stacking, I did some preliminary processing in SiriL using this tutorial. I continued my processing in PS and the below is the outcome.

I exported a tif and used StarNet++ to remove the stars so I could further process the nebula without affecting the the color of the stars. I use the stand-along version of StarNet++ and followed these instructions. Below is the starless version after removing all the stars.

This is the annotated version from Astrometry.net.



Copyright © 2024 Dave Morrison Photography