Rosette Nebula

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (2800 x 2100)

Scope: FSQ-106N at f/5,  Del Mar, CA   28 January 2012, Camera: ST8300M

Exposure: 15 x 10 minutes H-Alpha (1x1 bin),  10 x 3 minutes RGB Exposures (2x2 bin) 

Processing: Images were captured with CCDSoft. Aligned/stacked and dark subtracted in Astroart ; Sigma Combine method was used for stacking subs.  All channels were scaled and rough color balanced in Astroart.  Central Gradient removal  was done in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in Astroart.   The 10 minute 1x1 bin H-Alpha  exposures  were  used  for the main luminance construction. Level adjustments and curves were used to bring out object features.  LRGB combine was done in Photoshop.   Due to the heavy light pollution at data acquisition, there were color gradients in the background which were removed in Photoshop. Selective Color adjustment performed on Reds. A light background noise reduction and selective sharpening was applied  to the LRGB image.   Final touches and color balance in Photoshop. Final Image size is approximately 3352x2532 (cropped and resized to 2800x2100).

All exposures in this image were guided; North is up in this image. This is an extended cloud of gas and dust popularly known as the "Rosette Nebula". Gas is energized by nearby stars to emission levels. Within its center is the star cluster cataloged as NGC 2244. Various parts of this cloud are designated NGC 2237, 2238, 2239, and 2246. The Sharpless Catalogue designates this full structure as SH2-275. In the sky it is a large structure as viewed from the Earth with a diameter of about 5 full moons. It is a distance of about 5,500 light years from Earth. This image replaces an earlier image that can be seen in the Archives here. The Horizontal FOV is 115'.

Image center is located approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 06h 32m 29s Dec: +04°56'58" 

Hydrogen Alpha Emission ONLY IMAGE:

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (2400 x 1800)

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2012

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