The Ghost of Cassiopeia - IC 63 (2018)

They say there are no such things as ghosts but there sure looks like there is one in Cassiopeia. Located approximately 550 light-years away IC 63, a.k.a. the ghost of Cassiopeia is a a nebula being shaped by radiation from a nearby variable star, Gamma Cassiopeia (a.k.a. Navi the middle star in Cassiopeia), which is slowly eroding away the ghostly cloud of dust and gas (source: ESA/Hubble).

I was not planning on imaging IC 63 but it was finally clear and an OK size for my 80 mm refractor. I ordered a new larger refractor (115mm) a couple of months ago and have been waiting for to arrive.  I imaged over three nights although I was only planning on two, however, the camera moved slightly so I moved it back, quickly checked the focus and imaged.  When I looked at the images the next day it looked as if the focus was off a bit so I re-imaged after carefully focusing the following night.  Turns out the focus seemed the same so I used all the images, I attributed the difference to better clarity the first night.

Processing was basically trying things to see what looked good.  I processed the Ha and OIII and combined them into an HOO image.  I then experimented with combining Ha and OIII into the green channel at various percentages.  I then did an HaRGB but really just used the Ha in place of the red channel.  I then did a normal RGB image.  After much trial and error, the final image was a combined HaGB with HOO.  The HOO was made with 100% Ha - red, 80% OIII + 20% Ha - green, 100% OIII - blue.  I then added RGB for the stars.

 HaGB+HOO(0.8/0.2)                         More Noise Reduction

Original Version

New Version - Less NR, added 25% Luminosity

HOO(0.8/0.2)

HOO

RGB

Ha

IC 63 and IC 59 - Ghost of Cassiopeia

Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 11-8-18, 11-10-18, 11-11-18
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
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 Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, R, G, B
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: Ha 37 x 180s, OIII 60 x 180s, R 36 x 90, G 38 x 90, 39 x 90 (7.7 hrs total)
Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: -10 C
Post Processing: PixInsight and Photoshop
https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/