The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Notoriously difficult to view without the use of a narrowband filter.
Here I captured 9.3 hours with the ZWO ASI1600MC-Cool and Hutech IDAS filter (56 x 600 second frames). Shot at the Rockland Astronomy Club, Summer Star Party in Plainfield, MA over 3 nights. Don't own any narrowband filters as yet, so I was unable to pick much if any Oxygen OIII. It's now on my list along with an Ha filter!
The theory is...I could continue to image this from my light polluted skies at home with an OIII and/or Ha filter even during full moon and get enough data to add to it later. Time will tell!
Ron B.
T5i/700D, ASI1600MM-C, ASI120MM, ASI174MM, XAGYL 7x36mm FW
Astronomik Deep-Sky(RGB), CLS, Ha, OIII, SII
SV60EDS 60mm f/5.5 APO
AT65EDQ 65mm f/6.5 ED Quadruplet
SW ProED 100mm f/9.0 Doublet APO
C8 EdgeHD, AT130EDT
AVX, iEQ45 Pro
Hey Ron, great image! Lots of structure in the nebula, the colors are great and as always your focus and guiding are spot-on. And as with most things in Cygnus, it's surrounded by a LOT of stars!
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
Thanks one and all! We'll keep trying. The number of variables to overcome can be daunting at times. The learning curve continues.
I am rather pleased though, even without the OIII here. Keep in mind that the ASI1600MMC/MCC has a 3.8um pixel/arc second here making this extra hard on the guiding given the 1422mm FL. It's giving the iEQ45 Pro / PHD2 / OAG and my polar alignment a real workout to keep those stars round.
Ron B.
T5i/700D, ASI1600MM-C, ASI120MM, ASI174MM, XAGYL 7x36mm FW
Astronomik Deep-Sky(RGB), CLS, Ha, OIII, SII
SV60EDS 60mm f/5.5 APO
AT65EDQ 65mm f/6.5 ED Quadruplet
SW ProED 100mm f/9.0 Doublet APO
C8 EdgeHD, AT130EDT
AVX, iEQ45 Pro
Excellent shot Ron. I don't know if the learning curve ever ends, just maybe not as steep.
My bad luck of poor seeing conditions, when I have time available, is still plaguing me. I still haven't even had a chance to try out the Bahtinov mask. At least I'm patient, it's just a waiting game.
----- Chuck
Chuck M.
Meade 8" LX200 Classic OTA
iOptron CEM40EC and MiniPier on Meade classic field tripod
Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II
Canon 7D Mark II
ZWO 60mm f/4.6 GS with ASI120MM-S camera
Starizona SCT Corrector II and Virtual View 2" Rotating Visual Back
Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox
Patience is absolutely essential to this aspect of astronomy. Due to a move and loss of my observatory (I know boo hoo to me!) I have been out of imaging but, am trying to set up my gear on a stone wall at the condo where we now live. Been trying for three weeks just to get the mount setup and aligned, not done yet, gotta re-learn PHD2 for polar alignment. Maybe then I can actually do a star alignment on the Celestron VX and try for some shots. Don't think you are alone in this!
Frank N
Stellarvue 80mm APO, Skyguider Pro, Celestron AVX
"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be"
bluemax wrote:gotta re-learn PHD2 for polar alignment
Frank, would you or anyone else be interested in a PHD2 polar alignment tutorial/learning session? I'd be glad to go over the process with anyone who is interested. Seeing how it goes would also be helpful to me as a PHD2 developer to see how the process can be improved or made easier.
We could do it on any clear night, even around the full moon when we would not be likely to be imaging.
