IC 2177 Seagull Nebula 3-Panel Mosaic in Narrowband SHO

CRTAstro

CRTAstro

Well-Known Member
IC 2177 more commonly known as the Seagull Nebula is a reflection nebula between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major around 3,700 light-years away from Earth. The seagull shape is defined by the head (NGC 2327) and the wings (IC 2177 itself). This Ha-rich region of cosmic dust and gas clouds glows in the red light of ionized hydrogen and is over 250 light-years in diameter. I chose the SHO palette for this one which resulted in a myriad of different ways of displaying the Ha and Sii rich signal. Also being a mosaic this had its challenges of matching the palette between panels and any fine gradients if any between each.
189 x 600s SHO subs shot @-10C spread across 15 nights for a total integration time of over 31.5 hrs
For a higher resolution visit: https://www.astrobin.com/rp3xqj/

Equipment used:
Skywatcher 10" f4 Newtonian 250P
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro Hypertuned by Astronomy Academy Perth
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro Cooled Camera
Primaluce Sesto Senso2 Electronic Focuser
William Optics Uniguide 50/200mm guidescope
ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide Camera
ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel
Antlia Pro 36mm unmounted filters
Rollon rolloff modified shed observatory
Bortle 5
Data acquisition software: NINA Astronomy Software
Processing software: PixInsight and Photoshop CC
1668766191850.png
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Wow Carlos!!! Awesome work! Love the detail, and to do a mosaic is incredibly tough. You really pulled it all together.

And it's funny, I have been wanting to capture this, I got maybe an hour or so on it the other day. I did a quick stretch and realized I have cut off what would be the right half of the seagull. It was so faint in my capture I just didn't realize, and plus it was my first time trying. So I will need to get back and try it again and I can use your work here as a guide.
 
CRTAstro

CRTAstro

Well-Known Member
JimFox said:
Wow Carlos!!! Awesome work! Love the detail, and to do a mosaic is incredibly tough. You really pulled it all together.

And it's funny, I have been wanting to capture this, I got maybe an hour or so on it the other day. I did a quick stretch and realized I have cut off what would be the right half of the seagull. It was so faint in my capture I just didn't realize, and plus it was my first time trying. So I will need to get back and try it again and I can use your work here as a guide.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jim! Much appreciated!

Grab as much data as you can. It is rich in Ha and Sii so depending on how you extract and combine it should come out with lots of detail and color. I spent a few hours experimenting with different hues and finally settled on this palette. I tried an HSO version as well but it lost quite a bit of blues and pale greens and looked predominantly red/orange/yellow.
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
CRTAstro said:
Thanks Jim! Much appreciated!

Grab as much data as you can. It is rich in Ha and Sii so depending on how you extract and combine it should come out with lots of detail and color. I spent a few hours experimenting with different hues and finally settled on this palette. I tried an HSO version as well but it lost quite a bit of blues and pale greens and looked predominantly red/orange/yellow.
Click to expand...
I will, thanks for the advice. I might play around with the data I have even though it's not perfect. I will be back in California for Thanksgiving, and I hope to spend some time out in Joshua Tree with it's dark skies. So far it's looking good in the forecast, but it's too far out to really tell for sure.
 
Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
Great work Carlos, I already dropped a comment and like on your AB account. I wanted to add though that I also particularly like that blue 'bow shock' you have captured in the lower right middle of the frame - very cool!

ML
 
CRTAstro

CRTAstro

Well-Known Member
Mike Lewis said:
Great work Carlos, I already dropped a comment and like on your AB account. I wanted to add though that I also particularly like that blue 'bow shock' you have captured in the lower right middle of the frame - very cool!

ML
Click to expand...
Cheers Mike! Appreciate it and your comment on AB!

I originally thought the bow was a reflection of some kind in my imaging train so I had to look up other images and glad it wasn't 😀
 
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