Lion Nebula, Sh2-132, In narrowband Bi-Color

[Mike Lewis]

Here is the final set of data from a very successful 2020 astroimaging campaign. 13 new images in a year, compared to 1 image from the period from June 2018 to March of 2020 - quite an improvement. I initially did not have great hopes for this data, as it was only collected as a NB bi-color data set, and the initial frames did not look all that impressive during collection. More proof to never give up on a data set until you have actually put some post processing time in on it.

The Lion Nebula is estimated to be between 10,000 - 12,000 light-years away, on the edge of the constellation Cepheus. A wider FOV or a camera rotator would have allowed me to get the entire nebula in view, but the resemblance is still visible in this rotated and cropped version I think. The 2x drizzle fortunately still left me with plenty of resolution to rotate 90 degrees and crop off the portion of the image that was empty, which orients the 'Lion' in a more favorable position to be recognized - can you see him?

This is an extensive emission nebula, which also has a distinctive 'searchlight' feature that appears to emanate from within the red region of this image, which is what initially prompted me to try for an image of this region. Lots of other interesting features that are also present however. The red areas are primarily due to ionized Hydrogen emission (Hα) and the Blue regions to OIII emission in this bicolor version.

As always, comments, questions and critiques always most welcome.

Equipment:
ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and
Gain:200 Offset:50
Software Bisque MyT Mount
Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8
Innovations Foresight ONAG

Software:
Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8
Lightroom CC
Photoshop CC
Innovations Foresight SkyGuard

Light Frames:
Hα: 35 x 360 secs ( 3 hrs 30 mins)
OIII: 32 x 360 secs (3 hrs 12 mins)
Red: 13 x 30 secs (6 mins 30 secs)
Green: 14 x 30 secs (7 mins)
Blue: 11 x 30 secs (5 mins 30 secs)

7 hrs 01 mins total

Dark Frames:
10 x 60 secs, RGB (30 mins)
10 x 360 secs, Ha,OIII (2 hrs)

Bias Frames
100

Flat Frames
20 each filter

ML

 

[JimFox]

Hey Mike, simply amazing work! Really amazing! Love the amount of detail in this, and I am sure jealous. Especially since I have had to spend some $$$ on my Jeep lately, so it may be another year or two before I start upgrading my Astro gear.

Thanks for adding the total time for each of the dark sets, that’s a bit of helpful info for me.

You definitely had a very productive 2020. I am curious to hear what DSO’s you are thinking on tackling for next year?

 

[Jim Dockery]

You guys are dedicated, and it paid off here. Beautiful.

 

[AlanLichty]

Stunning result. Interesting to hear what constitutes a good year for shooting DSO like this. As Jim D mentioned it takes some serious dedication to produce results like this. Nice work.

 

[Ben Egbert]

This is some serious detail and I love your detailed description of the nebula and also how you c0llected and processed data.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Thanks everyone! I always appreciate feedback. This is a time consuming pursuit, but I am starting to realize that as someone who enjoys the post processing aspect of this as much as the data collection that separates me from at least some other folks in the hobby. Having more time starting in September to put into the collection and processing has helped me out a fair amount as well. But the biggest contributor I still feel is just the difference between ~2 to 4 hours of data on an object and ~8 to 12 hours of data on an object. I had looked around at what I was achieving and what my gear was prior to this year and decided that my gear was very good but that time on target was an obvious differentiator between my results and getting to the next level. But it is one thing to have a theory and another to see it come to fruition so successfully. Up until this year I always felt like virtually every image I took was fine, but not impressive enough to be my final 'take' on an object. Now I feel like I am finally doing justice to a lot of these targets (although there is ALWAYS something that could be better in every image I would say). I cannot thank my friend Frank enough, who owns the property down in southern AZ where these images are being collected from, and who is instrumental in setting up my gear and then having it ready for me to start controlling it every night we image.

So that is all my data from the October sessions, time to start cranking on the new R5 and some scenic and wildlife shooting for a while

I will start developing a more formal target list soon in preparation for some data collections starting in January. Depending on Frank's plans and the ever-present COVID complications, he may be down there for a few months in a row, so that could end up being very productive again, we shall see. At some point I would like to get down there myself too, but for now, that is on hold for obvious reasons.

Best Regards,

ML

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Wow. Just stunning imagery Mike. The detail and crispness of the image is amazing.

 

[Nilo Photography]

Outstanding work.

 

[Brian]

Just amazing Mike.

 

[Tom Narwid]

Here is the final set of data from a very successful 2020 astroimaging campaign. 13 new images in a year, compared to 1 image from the period from June 2018 to March of 2020 - quite an improvement. I initially did not have great hopes for this data, as it was only collected as a NB bi-color data set, and the initial frames did not look all that impressive during collection. More proof to never give up on a data set until you have actually put some post processing time in on it.

The Lion Nebula is estimated to be between 10,000 - 12,000 light-years away, on the edge of the constellation Cepheus. A wider FOV or a camera rotator would have allowed me to get the entire nebula in view, but the resemblance is still visible in this rotated and cropped version I think. The 2x drizzle fortunately still left me with plenty of resolution to rotate 90 degrees and crop off the portion of the image that was empty, which orients the 'Lion' in a more favorable position to be recognized - can you see him?

This is an extensive emission nebula, which also has a distinctive 'searchlight' feature that appears to emanate from within the red region of this image, which is what initially prompted me to try for an image of this region. Lots of other interesting features that are also present however. The red areas are primarily due to ionized Hydrogen emission (Hα) and the Blue regions to OIII emission in this bicolor version.

As always, comments, questions and critiques always most welcome.

View attachment 34277

Equipment:
ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera @ -20C and
Gain:200 Offset:50
Software Bisque MyT Mount
Stellarvue SVQ100 Astrograph Refractor, 580mm @ f/5.8
Innovations Foresight ONAG

Software:
Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8
Lightroom CC
Photoshop CC
Innovations Foresight SkyGuard

Light Frames:
Hα: 35 x 360 secs ( 3 hrs 30 mins)
OIII: 32 x 360 secs (3 hrs 12 mins)
Red: 13 x 30 secs (6 mins 30 secs)
Green: 14 x 30 secs (7 mins)
Blue: 11 x 30 secs (5 mins 30 secs)

7 hrs 01 mins total

Dark Frames:
10 x 60 secs, RGB (30 mins)
10 x 360 secs, Ha,OIII (2 hrs)

Bias Frames
100

Flat Frames
20 each filter

ML

Great image Mike!

 

[chuckp]

Mike, nice shot of the Lion. really cool object. This is the first year I've heard of this object and I just finished imaging it this week also. i did mine in the Hubble palette.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Chuck,

Will look forward to seeing yours! I was not hardly getting and SII out of it so decided to try bi-color. I am sure with some actual SII this could be amazing.

ML

 

[Tom Narwid]

Great image Mike!

Wow Mike. That is a real beauty. You are really getting a lot out of your equipment and processing.