IC 63 - Ghost of Cassiopeia

Located 550 light-years away in Cassiopeia IC 63 and the surrounding objects such as IC 59 and Sh2-185 are reflection and emission nebulae composed of gas and dust. Energy in the form of ultraviolet radiation from the nearby but not shown, blue-giant star Gamma Cassiopeiae (a.k.a. Navi), excites the hydrogen gas which inturn causes the red glow. The blue colored regions are from reflected light off the dust.

I like how IC 63 seems to be pointing upwards towards Gamma Cassiopeiae (not shown) wanting to be fed more energy so it can continue to glow. Even though I love stars and imaged it with Gamma Cass in the field of view, I cropped it out for a number of reasons. Also, I captured ~9 hrs of OIII but in hindsight probably would have been better off with more RGB data instead as the natural blue came out much more than the oxygen. IC 59 in the upper left had the most blue signal. I did blend the OIII in as the background was somewhat smoother with it added in. As usual I struggle with how much star reduction to do and I did more than I typically do, however, I am sure most people would be more aggressive.

Dates: 9-15-24, 9-19, 9-20, 9-22, 10-3, 10-5, 10-6, 10-7, 10-8, 10-9, 10-15, 10-20, 10-21, 10-22

Higher Quality:
https://www.astrobin.com/j3n02i/?nc=collection&nce=712

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1

IC 63 - Ghost of Cassiopeia
Dates: 9-15-24, 9-19, 9-20, 9-22, 10-3, 10-5, 10-6, 10-7, 10-8, 10-9, 10-15, 10-20, 10-21, 10-22
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805mm (644mm w/ FR)
f/7
Focal Reducer: 0.8x AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Sirius
Filter Wheel: ZWO
EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: Antlia Ha, OIII; ZWO R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 157 x 300, OIII 109 x 300, R 41 x 90, G 43 x 90, B 41 x 90 (25h 20')
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: 0 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, GraXpert, Bill Blanshan Color Masks, Bill Blanshan Stretching, Topaz Denoise.

https://www.instagram.com/astroquest1/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
https://www.astrobin.com/users/kurtzepp/collections/
http://youtube.com/AstroQuest1