SH2-101 - Tulip Nebula in Ha

Been a while since I posted anything, I actually captured this image of the Tulip Nebula (SH2-101) over three nights last week when the moon was out. The nebula is a HII region about 6,000 light years away in Cygnus. I wanted to do something slightly less imaged and decided this was it. Since the moon was out (full) Ha was the best option if not the only option. I will add RGB when I can. This was a bit hit hard to find as it was not in the PlateSolve2 database so I had to do it the old fashioned way of hoping I had good alignment and using Stelliarium. Fortunately I had both. The other tough thing about imaging in Ha using a DSLR and no filter wheel is I have to focus on a very bright star with the Ha filter and use extended time exposures for location as live view is useless.

I am not very experienced with Ha processing and am never sure of how it is supposed to be with respect to brightness, background, noise reduction, and etc. With all that, here is my first ever attempt of the Tulip Nebula.

SH2-101 - Tulip Nebula
Location: Happy Frog Observatory, Monroe, CT
Date: 06-25-18, 6-28-18, 6-30-18
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i(a), AstroPhotography Tool APT, Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ (HEQ5)
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR, Astronomik 12nm Ha
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: 48 x 180s, 20 x 180s, 36 x 180s
ISO: 1600
Temp: 18 C, 20 C, 20 C
Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Gradient Exterminator, Astronomy Tools

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/