LBN 639

LBN 639 is located in the constellation Pisces and is part of a larger structure known as the MBM 3 molecular cloud.  Information is sparse for this object however I did find a distance estimate of 807 to 858 light-years from Jim Thommes website (http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/LBN639.htm).  Several  galaxies which are over 500 million light-years away are visible in this image as well as some quasars.  

I enjoy imaging dark reflection nebula and molecular clouds so naturally I live in one of the worst places to do these types of projects but oh well, I like a challenge.  One of the advantages of using the hyperstar system is that it is very fast (collects photons quickly) with a focal ratio of 1.9.  It really does pick up a lot faint nebulosity quickly, however, the stars are not as good as refractor stars.  I did do some tweaking with the telescope which improved their quality but it is still not as good as refractor stars in my opinion.   

I have noticed for a long time that when I collect luminosity data the stars seem a little larger (high FWHM) than the RGB data - this seems to be worse with the hyperstar.  I did not think anything of it until I saw a recent post by Rodd Dryfuss who lives close by and was mentioning he is not collecting  luminosity data anymore for certain objects because of this very reason.  For this object as well as most molecular clouds and such luminosity is needed for the nebulosity but not for the stars.  I made a starless image out of the LRGB image and then blended the only the RGB stars back - thanks Rodd.  I also used my ZWO ASI1600MM and my new Opolong 2" LRGB filter set for this project.  

LBN 639

Dates: 10-31, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8
Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native)
F/10 (native) F/1.9 (Hyperstar)
Focal Reducer: Starizona Hyperstar
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: Starizona Filter Drawer
Filter: Optolong LRGB
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Agena 50mm Helical Guidescope
Exposure: L 244 x 90s, R 34 x 90s, G 36 x 90s, B 42 x 90s
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Temp: 0 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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