Sh2-155 - Cave Nebula SHO (RGB Stars)

This is Sharpless 155 (Sh2-155) located 2400 light-years away in constellation Cepheus.  It is listed as an ionized region of Ha gas where star-formation occurs and is located on the edge of the Cepheus Molecular Cloud.  The nebula is being illuminated by the nearby hot stars with the largest component coming from the large bright blue star in the upper center.  The name Cave Nebula came from Patrick Moore who likened the nebula to an opening of a cave.  There is another object in Cepheus, a small reflection nebula named Ced 201, also known as the Cave Nebula.  My favorite part of this object is the bright gold rim of the cave and the orange knot (HH object) on the lower right.  

This object did not want me to image it for some reason.  You will see the last time I published a DSS was July 5th and I actually started on this the end of June.  This has to be the worst July I remember for lack of clear nights.  I tried to image every night that there was a 'thought' of clear weather - most ended with clouds.  Also, I have been using using N.I.N.A. for auto-focusing but it seemed to not work for a couple of nights so I had to do it the old-fashioned way - the reason it stopped working was I uploaded a new version and it rest the gain to zero.  Finally, I ended up with condensation on camera sensor or glass plate (ASI1600) probably caused my trying to image on tremendously humid nights.  Whatever the case I had to learn how to take my camera apart and rejuvenate the desiccant tablets - it is actually quite simple in case you ever have to do it.

Overall I am happy that I even captured something, I was getting concerned I would never finish this thing.  I used StarNet++ in PI and did most of the color adjustments in PS.  I am happy with the how colors turned out, however, I was hoping for more nebulosity and detail. This is a dim object though so if you image it, prepare to be on it for a little while, hopefully you will have an easier time than had. 

Date: 7-4-20, 7-5-20, 7-13-20, 7-14-20, 7-18-20, 7-19-20, 7-20-20, 7-20-20, 7-21-20, 7-25-20, 7-27-20, 7-28-20, 7-29-20

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1

Sh2 - Cave Nebula
Home Monroe, CT
Date: 7-4-20, 7-5-20, 7-13-20, 7-14-20, 7-18-20, 7-19-20, 7-20-20, 7-20-20, 7-21-20, 7-25-20, 7-27-20, 7-28-20, 7-29-20
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Astro-Tech AT115EDT 115mm Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 805
f/7
Focal Reducer: AstroTech Field Flatterner/Focal Reducer
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Wheel: ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25"
Filter: ZWO Ha, OIII, SII, R, G, B
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope/ZWO 60mm Guidescope
Exposure: Ha 128 x 240s, OIII 148 x 240s, SII 130 x 240s, R 32 x 60s, G 29 x 60s, B 31 x 60s (28.6 hrs)

Gain: 139
Offset 21
Temp: 22 C
Processing: APT, NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop.

https://kurtzeppetello.smugmug.com/
http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
http://youtube.com/c/AstroQuest1