From a Dark Sky VRBO outside of Hotchkiss
We hunted around for a VRBO in a dark sky site and found this one outside Hotchkiss in rural western Colorado.
H+S+C14 – The Heart (IC 1805) and Soul Nebula (IC 1848) are two large star-forming regions in the constellation Cassiopeia, located in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way, approximately 6,000-7,500 light-years away. They are often photographed together and are known for their bright, glowing interstellar gas, dust clouds, and young star clusters. The Heart Nebula is named for its heart-like shape, while both are characterized by the red light of ionized hydrogen and various colors from oxygen and sulfur gasses. 35.28 To 44.1 quadrillion miles.
Also in this wide field shot is Caldwell 14, the Double Cluster, a pair of open star clusters named NGC 869 and NGC 884, located in the constellation Perseus. Also known as h and chi Persei, these two clusters appear side-by-side and are visible to the naked eye under dark skies, though binoculars offer a better view. The Double Cluster consists of hot, young, blue-white stars, some of which are supergiant stars.
These two open star clusters containing over 300 blue-white supergiant stars each.
Distance:
The Heart nebula lies in the constellation Cassiopeia and is about 7500 light-years from Earth or 44.2 quadrillion miles. The Soul nebula is about 6000 light-years from Earth, or 35.28 quadrillion miles.
Imaging
I got 80 sub-images at 300s, and 220 sub-images at 60s on 2 successive nights to bring out the subtle dust in the IFN. I calibrated these with I calibrated with 20 biases, 20 darks, 20 flats, and 20 dark flats. I used Astro Pixel Processor to separate the image into Ha and OIII and combine into an HOO image, the Graxpert script to perform the background extraction and gradient reduction, and the Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch script to stretch the image. I finished off the image in Photoshop, using the Camera Raw filter to add contrast.
Equipment:
Wide-field Shot:
• Lens: Rokinon 135mm f/2.0 at f/2.8
• Camera: Canon 60D Astro-modified camera
• Mount: SkyWatcher Adventurer GTi
• Filter: None, Bortle-2 skies
• Automation: ZWO ASIAir Mini
Close-up Shot:
• Telescope: SVBony SV503 80ED 560mm, an f/7 Doublet Refractor telescope with a 0.8 Reducer/Flattener to reduce the focal length to 448mm and aperture to f/5.6
• Camera: ZWO ASI2600 MC Pro
• Mount: SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro
• Filter: None, Bortle-2 skies
• Guiding: ZWO ASI120mm Mini Monochrome Guide Camera with the ZWO 30mm f/4 Guide Scope
• Automation: ZWO ASIAir Mini
