IC4603 and IC4604 Showing Rho Ophiuchi Color Transition - Adam Lundie - Eatons Hill Observatory

IC4603 and IC4604 Showing Rho Ophiuchi Color Transition

27-Apr-2017
IC4603 and IC4604 Showing Rho Ophiuchi Color Transition thumbnail
IC4603 and IC4604 Showing Rho Ophiuchi Color Transition
Inside the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex live the star clusters IC4604 (left) and IC4603 (right). Heading towards the bottom of the image shows the transition from blue reflection nebulae to red emission nebulae. Interspersed are dark absorption nebulae, blocking the light from the stars behind them.

Image:

  • 47x 420s Lum bin1x1
  • 44x 240s Red bin2x2
  • 51x 240s Green bin2x2
  • 42x 240s Blue bin2x2

Total exposure 14 hours 37 minutes.

Hardware:

  • Skywatcher Black Diamond ED80
  • SkyWatcher EQ8 Pro Mount
  • QSI 683-ws Camera @ -15°C
  • Astronomik typ 2c LRGB filters
  • Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 Autoguider
  • Innovations Foresight On Axis Guider
  • Starlight Instruments Focus Boss II

Location:

  • Orange zone in Brisbane, Australia. (Bortle 7)
  • Imaged over 3 nights during high humidity and new moon.

Software:

  • Planning & camera alignment with Aladin 9
  • Captured with AstroArt 6
  • Guiding with PHD2 + PHD_Dither
  • Live focusing with FocusLock
  • CCDInspector: Image analysis & rejection
  • CCDStack 2+: Calibrate, align, stack, deconvolution, combine RGB.
  • Astra Image: Deconvolution, adaptive denoise.
  • Photoshop CC: Curves, high pass filter, combine L+RGB, color balance, saturation.

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