SkyShed Observatories Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 From Saturday Night - Lobster Claw Night! The Moon was almost full but I figured I'd go for it with the IDAS NBZ (Nebula Boost Filter for f2) on the Altair 26C. The Lobster Claw is not the most popular target I think. It's usually near the end of your Summer list because it rises well at the end of the Summer. And because it's one of the faint Sharpless Catalogue emission nebulae which is hidden behind a wall of stars, in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way. So not the easiest target to capture well. Then you do something crazy like trying to capture it while the Moon is blazing. So I'll shoot it again when the Moon recedes. In the meantime a couple of quick passes in Pixinsight. Natural colour (red) and "faux Hubble", to bring out some different details. I think there is some merit in it, it appears? The "cloud pillowing" is both natural, and an enhanced artifact from diminishing the stars to "push" the nebula to the foreground. Trade-offs were made(!) in resolution and brightness to achieve these results. I'll do a proper processing later. Like when there's a blizzard outside on a Friday night and Netflix isn't doing it for me. And/Or just shoot it again with no Moon in the sky. To get more of the faint detail in the background. Of course it's actually a bunch of objects, not just SH2-157. Sky & Tel says - Sharpless 157, sometimes referred as the Lobster Claw Nebula, is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia, at a distance of approximately 11050 light years (3390 parsecs) from the Earth. The predominantly red part of the nebula is a very large hydrogen (H II) region that is ring-shaped by the stellar wind of several giant stars, including the bright and very young Wolf-Rayed star WR 57. The small bright region, lower right of center, is Lyn's Bright Nebula 537 (LBN537 or Sharpless 157a). The white/blue colored regions at the left (claw) part of the image mainly consist of highly ionized oxygen (OIII) and other gases. The small open star cluster NGC 7510 is located at the upper left. The tip of the Bubble Nebula region (NGC 7635) is in the lower left corner. Details - 70 X 120 sec Lights (2 hours 20 minutes total) Celestron 14" Edge HD Hyperstar V.4 - f1.9 SkyWatcher EQ-8 Pro Rh Altair 26C Pro TEC IDAS NBZ Filter SkyShed POD MAX SkyShed Pier Captured with Sharpcap Green Swamp Server For SkyWatcher Post Processing - Pixinsight CS! Wayne 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkAR Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Wow, looks superb. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonyme Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 The claw appears to have an open cluster in its clutches, does it have name and if so what is it? Gary 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraic M Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Nice image Wayne. Those outer wisps don't normally get the exposure they deserve. Nice to see the Lob get a study to itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyShed Observatories Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 7 hours ago, Sonyme said: The claw appears to have an open cluster in its clutches, does it have name and if so what is it? Gary Yes Gary there are number of objects in the field. I think if you Google it Wiki has more info? CS! 6 minutes ago, Padraic M said: Nice image Wayne. Those outer wisps don't normally get the exposure they deserve. Nice to see the Lob get a study to itself. Thx Padraic! I'm going to try again when the Moon recedes. I want to et more of the wisps! CS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Very vivid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonaldNC Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Nice work Wayne! Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonyme Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 I did a little bit of digging and it seems the cluster inside the Lobsters Claw is Markarian 50, a bright young open cluster containing Wolf Rayet Star WR 157. The name V458 Cephi also cropped up but information about this is thin on the ground. Gary 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg M Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Beautiful image Wayne. Congrats. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyShed Observatories Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 (edited) Thanks guys! I'm going to try it again when the Moon recedes. It was well up and 99% full when I took the image. The only thing that made it possible was the IDAS NBZ with the Hyperstar. The whole thing was bit of an experiment to see what I could get with such a Moon up. I believe I will be able to fill the field with faint nebulosity when the Moon is out of the sky. 😉 CS! Wayne Edited September 24, 2021 by SkyShed Observatories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyShed Observatories Posted September 24, 2021 Author Share Posted September 24, 2021 The small open star cluster NGC 7510 is located at the upper left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.