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Scope: C8 at f/4.1, Location: Laguna Mountains, CA 19 August 2006, Camera: Artemis285
Exposure: 6 x 360 sec H-Alpha (1x1), 5 x 180 sec IR/UV Block Filter (1x1), 5 x 90 sec RGB Exposures (2x2).
Processing: Images were captured with Artemis Capture (as FITs). Aligned/stacked in Registax 3 and saved as FITS. Luminance, H-Alpha, IR/UV Block, and Color channels were scaled and color balanced in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in Astroart. Central Gradient removal was done in Astroart. Curves and Levels applied in Photoshop to optimize object features. Luminance construction consisted of the H-Alpha exposure mixed with the IR/UV Block exposure. Final LRGB combine was done in Photoshop using Luminance Layering (or LLRGB) - G2V calibration factors and Atmospheric Extinction factors were applied. I also applied hue restoration to correct any shift introduced in the LRGB. Selective sharpening was applied to nebula features in Photoshop with a layer mask. Noel's Astronomy tools Deep space NR applied 50% to the final image. Final Image size is approximately 1391x1043.
All exposures in this image were guided; North is up in this image. This region is dominated by the larger nebula IC1284. IC1283 is very faint at the very top. Both are emission/reflection nebulas. NGC 6590 (also listed as NGC 6595) is the smaller bright reflection nebula in the lower right; NGC 6589 is the bright reflection nebula just above NGC 6590. Distance estimates vary but the approximate distance from Earth is about 10,000 to 16,000 light years. The Horizontal FOV is 39'.
Image center is located approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 18h 17m 24s Dec: -19°42'37"