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Scope: Megrez 80 mm APO at f/5.8, Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA 27 December 2011 Camera: Artemis285
Exposure: 13 x 7 min (1x1 bin) exposure with UV/IR block, 8 x 3 min (2x2 bin) RGB exposures.
Processing: Images were captured with Artemis Capture (as FITs). Aligned/stacked and dark subtracted in Astroart with Sigma Combine. IR / UV Blocking filter and Color channels were scaled and color balanced in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in Astroart. Central gradient was removed in Astroart. Luminance channel consisted of the IR/UV blocking filter exposures. Curves and Levels applied in Photoshop to the Luminance channel to optimize star depth and nebula features / dust. Final LRGB combine was done in Photoshop. Final Image size is approximately 1600 x 1200.
North is up in this image. This reflection nebula, NCG 1788 is also catalogued as vdB 33. It is located in the constellation of Orion. This is one structure within the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud. Objects that make up part of this cloud are generally 1000 to 3000 light years distant from Earth. This image replaces an earlier image in the archives here. Horizontal FOV is 67'
Image center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 05h 06m 27s Dec: -03°23'02"