The Phantom of The Opera - Sh2-173

[Jkulin]

This really was a pig to process and trying to get the right colour when there is so much Ha present, very little OIII and good amounts of SII.

 

It took 4 full attempts in PI to get it right and I ended up processing it completely differently that I would other NB images.

 

I ended up having to balance the channels with Pixel Maths in PI and finally settled on the HSO pallet, I am quite pleased how the stars came out.

 

In this instance I think perseverance paid off and I don't think with my skies that I could achieve much better.

 

Further info here: - https://www.astrobin.com/1xrzli/

 

Taken with my Custom 10" Newt rebuilt by 656imaging, iOptron 120EC Mount, Moravian G2-8300 CCD, Ultrastar guide camera on a QHY OAG, Pegasus UPB MkII, Chroma 2" unmounted Filters, Processed in PI and PS.

 

As usual, here is the Bumf courtesy of Wikipedia: -

 

Sh2 -173 is a visible emission nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

 

It is identified approximately 3 ° to NNE of the brilliant β Cassiopeiae (Caph), the star that represents the westernmost part of the "W" of Cassiopea, and is located south-west of the 12 Cassiopeiae , a white-blue star of fifth magnitude . Given its strongly northern declension , its observation is possible especially from the regions of the northern hemisphere , from which it appears circumpolar up to the subtropical latitudes, while from the southern hemisphere its visibility is reduced and limited to tropical regions only.

 

It is an H II region with a diameter of 77 light years , located at about 2700 parsec (about 8800 light years) away. It is located on the Perseus Arm , one of the major spiral arms of the Milky Way , at the OB Cassiopeia OB5 association, which includes some open and nebulous clusters , such as Sh2-172 and Sh2-177 , in contact with a large superbolla with a 380 parsec diameter, created by the stellar wind of the mass stars of the association. It contains a large number of young stars, of which there would be at least 7 of the main ones responsible for the ionization of the gases , the hottest of which is listed as BD + 60 39, a blue star of spectral class O9V; would be part of a large star-forming region located near the Cas OB5 association, to which the nearby nebulae, as well as the NGC 103 open clusters and the KR 98 radio wave source are connected, as well as the LDN dark nebula 1282. Maths in PI

[peter shah]

another great shot John....love the star colour

[Jkulin]

57 minutes ago, peter shah said:

another great shot John....love the star colour

Thanks Peter.

[TerryMcK]

Wow it is like the Phantom face. Great work John.

[Bob-c]

Lovely work John.

 

Bob.

[AstronomyUkraine]

Looks great John. I've passed over this target a few times. Stellarium doesn't show the amount of Ha present in this target, which is quite abundant looking at your image.

 

Brian

[Jkulin]

13 minutes ago, AstronomyUkraine said:

Looks great John. I've passed over this target a few times. Stellarium doesn't show the amount of Ha present in this target, which is quite abundant looking at your image.

 

Brian

Thanks Brian, a quick search on Astrobin, will show just how much is thought to be: - https://www.astrobin.com/search/?q=Sh2-173

[rwillits]

Welldone John. I can see where that would be difficult to process. 

[Jkulin]

Thanks Richard, I tried so many variants to combine from HSO, HOO HSS, SHO, SHH, you name it and I think I tried it, I knew there was loads of Ha and a good amount of SII with very little OIII, so it was a matter of getting the balance right.

 

I'm also surprised at the number of people who have captured this in LRGB and got a similar colour, this was the RGB for the stars, only 40 mins of each channel, but the Phantom is barely visible: -

 

[Carastro]

Well done John, this little blighter is a bit camera shy, I had a go at it a few months ago and it's going to need a lot of data from where I live.

 

How much data is this by the way? 

 

Carole 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Carastro

[MarkAR]

Excellent work John, the phantom really stands out well.

[Jkulin]

4 hours ago, Carastro said:

Well done John, this little blighter is a bit camera shy, I had a go at it a few months ago and it's going to need a lot of data from where I live.

 

How much data is this by the way? 

 

Carole 

Thanks Carole.

 

It took me about 12 hours to get that and even longer to process 🤪

1 hour ago, MarkAR said:

Excellent work John, the phantom really stands out well.

Thanks Mark.

[Gina]

WOW that's a lot of time in this country!!!  Well done!!