Blue Horsehead Nebula

[Bill Richards]

The "Blue Horsehead Nebula" is a faint reflection nebula close to the Rho Oph region. Reflection nebulas are composed of very fine dust that normally appears dark but can look blue when reflecting the light of energetic nearby stars. In this case, the source of much of the reflected light is a star at the eye of the "horsehead". A second reflection nebula is visible surrounding two stars on the horse's neck.

This is the result of stacking 96 images, totaling 5.7 hours of exposure time, taken on 2021-06-12 and 2026-06-15.

Equipment and Software:
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Mounts: iOptron CEM40 and 10Micron GM1000HPS
Lens/Telescope: Sigma 150-600mm lens at 250mm and SkyWatcher Esprit 100ED at 360mm
Auto-Focuser: Pegasus FocusCube2
Imaging Cameras: ASI2600MC-Pro and ASI2600MC-Duo
Filters: Optolong L-eXtreme and L-Ultimate
Guide Camera: ASI290MM-Mini on OAG
Imaging S/W: NINA
Guiding S/W: PHD2
Image Processing S/W: PixInsight

Exposure Details:
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Camera Temperature -15C
Bias: 50
Gain: 100
54 x 240s plus 42 x 180s
Plus 32x Darks, Flats, and Dark Flats

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[JimFox]

That's just super well done Bill! Love this image. And the Blue Horsehead is one that I have not done yet.

And with my travels back and forth to my daughters house in Colorado, my imaging time as gone down the tubes, as I am so often leaving clear skies to go to cloudy, but it can't be helped. So hopefully I can time my free time with a lack of clouds and no moon better.

 

[Bill Richards]

Thanks, Jim. Hope to see you "back in the saddle" again soon!