20210916 - IC 63 - The Ghost of Cassiopeia - I went out chasing Ghosts 👻 … and caught a ghost floating in space in the light of the glistening star from Cassiopeia
What was the experience
With autumn around the corner, the ghosts are coming out everywhere, and I went out as well, to chase and catch one … getting close to full moon 🌔, not ideal, but these are ghosts 👻, right?
A faint emission Nebula, lit by the light of the “shell star” in Cassiopeia, with its companion IC59 close by. So faint, it actually would be better without the filter, but I took the L-Enhance anyway (light pollution, you know 😉)
The eerie look of the ghost came out nicely through the new found processing skills in PixInsight, but I’m sure I will be dropping new revisions of this one on astrobin. I’m convinced I haven’t pulled out the full potential of the data yet, the surrounding nebulosity should come out better to show the misty frame-setting of the ghost … after all, ghosts are difficult to catch out, aren’t they 😱
Happy with the result 🤩 … for now 😎
What’s in the picture(s)
IC 63 & IC 59 - Ghost of Cassiopeia -
https://freestarcharts.com/ic-59Quote: “IC 59 and IC 63 are faint reflection and
emission nebula located in the northern constellation of
Cassiopeia. They are challenging objects to spot with telescopes for a number of reasons. Both nebulae are faint at apparent
mag. +10, they have extremely low surface brightness and surround bright variable star gamma Cas (γ Cas). This remarkable star is partly unstable and is known as a "shell star". It currently shines at mag. +2.15, making it the brightest star in Cassiopeia.”
How it was done
Scope: TS-94EDPH APO (FL 414mm / 517mm with 0.8x corrector)
Mount: SkyWatcher EQ6R-Pro
Camera: ASI2600MC Pro
Guiding: @zwoasi OAG, ASI290MM, ASIAIR Pro
Filter: Optolong L-Enhance
Resolution: 1,87”/pixel, FoV 235’
Moon: 81%(+), Bortle 5/6 SQM 19.60
Photons: Gain 100 -10c 600s 37x (16+21)
Processing: PixInsight (Mac)
Astrobin:
What have I learned from this
The Optolong filter starts giving of a shell around the “shell star”, difficult to get an object so faint, close to a star so bright …
This has become a special object to me. A mystical ghost floating in space. The processing already shows a hint of the different shape shifting forms it embodies … This ghosts just begs to be chased and haunt you, until you get him processed out correctly …
He will haunt me for the next (processing-)nights to come 😎
Clear Skies everybody! 🤩✨🔭
Credit
IG
https://www.instagram.com/astrowaut/Astrobin:
https://www.astrobin.com/users/WCA65/FB ‘Deep Sky AstroPhotography’:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/359385525864088/?ref=share
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