Horsehead NGC7293
The Helix Nebula		 Horsehead

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(Click here for my 2003 image taken with my AP155EDF and ST-8XE)

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Date: September 23, 2006
Exposure: HaO3 : 270min : 240min
9 x 1800s Ha, 8 X 1800s OIII
Processing: CCDSoftV5 for image acquisition, CCDStack for Image calibration, Astrodon Narrowband filters (5 flats each Ha, OIII, Bias subtracted and Sigma Clip combined, 40 bias frames Sigma Clip combined, 25 1800s darks Sigma Clip combined), alignment, normalization, FITS files creation. Photoshop CS2 for color mapping and jpg conversion. CCDAutoPilot3 used to collect data over multiple nights.
Conditions: Average, Mag 4-4.5 Skies, clear to hazy and the usual 90%+ humidity after midnight.
Scope: RCOS 16" Truss @ f/8.4 on a Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG STL-6303, -25°
Comments: The end of summer can always be a tough time to get targets low in the south from my location. NGC7293 doesn't get much above 34 degrees and has a very narrow window for data gathering when available. This was taken over 8 nights to get enough data needed to have just fair S/N. Since the SII data was so hard to get and didn't turn out very well, I had to creat the Green channel from the OIII and the Ha. This is mapped Ha=Red, Ha/OIII=Green, OIII=Blue. There was alot of Photoshop work to try and match the colors to the traditional RGB rendition.