CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE VIEW (2400 x 1800)
Scope: ES "Levy" Mak-Newt MN152 at f/4.8, Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA, 21 November 2011, Camera: ST8300M
Exposure: 16 x 8 minutes (1x1 bin) and 8 x 4 (2x2 bin) minutes UV/IR Block , 8 x 4 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 8 minute 1x1 and 4 minute 2x2 UV/IR Block exposures were blended for the main luminance construction. Level adjustments and curves were used to bring out object features. LRGB combine was done in Photoshop. Selective Color adjustment performed on Neutrals. A light background noise reduction was applied to the LRGB image. Final touches and color balance in Photoshop. Final Image size is approximately 3252x2532 (cropped and resized to 2400x1800).
North is to the right in this image. The main nebula object is cataloged as vdB 15 and LBN682. The blue puff to the right is LBN681. This field is located in the constellation of Cameloprdalis. The Horizontal FOV is 88'.
Image center is located approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 03h 29m 41s Dec: +59°09'25"