NGC 1499 - California Nebula (NB with RGB Stars)

NGC 1499 is an emission nebula approximately 100 light-years long and located only about 1,000 light-years away in the constellation of Perseus. Emission nebulae get their energetic glow from electrons recombining with atoms after they were stripped away by ionizing radiation from nearby stars (hydrogen is most common). The responsible star for this nebula is believed to be Xi Persei, a hot blue star which is unfortunately just off the top central part of my image.

When oriented 90 degrees from this orientation it resembles the State of California which it is commonly known as. It is a very popular object but only the second time for me - the first was four years ago. That was one of the first images I did with the Astronomik Ha Clip-In Filter. Ironically, I reprocessed that image eight months later when I tried PixInsight for the first time.  That PI version is a great improvement. It is hard to compare with this version since I used a modified Hubble Palette but I think it is better. I really like the sharp wispy dendrites scattered throughout the gold region of the Nebula.

I chose to do it using narrowband filters as I needed an object that could be done when the moon is out since that is the only time it has been clear in the last two months. The SII (sulfur) came out really well. The Ha (hydrogen) was ok but there were some gradients most likely caused by wispy clouds and poor transparency. The OIII (oxygen) was not that good at all - it was barely visible and noisy. Attached is a link to my website that has the stacked data.

 

(link, https://astroquest1.blogspot.com/2022/01/ngc-1499-california-nebula-nb-with-rgb.html). 

It may be that oxygen just is not that abundant in this nebula. The RGB data was pretty good, especially red, but I only used it for the stars.

As a result of the poor oxygen I did some PixelMath gymnastics to make a presentable combination. After numerous combinations with and without the oxygen I used: S - red; Ha - green; and S 40%, Ha 40%, OIII 20%. I use PixelMath for many other things as well such as bringing stars back and sharpening. Although I did not get the richness I hoped for, the stars came out well and the translucent detail was there. Also on the website link is the b&w luminosity layer. I attached it as some objects seem to show more detail in black and white in my opinion. This is one and the Horsehead in another.

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NGC 1499 - California Nebula
Dates: 12-12-21, 12-13, 12-19, 12-20, 12-20, 1-3-22, 1-4, 1-7, 1-8

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: 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 112 x 180, OIII 98 x 180, SII 93 x 180, R 60 x 60, G 59 x 60, B 46 x 60
Gain: 139
Offset 20
Sensor Temp: -10 C/-20 C
Processing: NINA, PixInsight, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoiseAI, Gradient Exterminator, StarXTerminator.

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Luminosity

Hydrogen 

Oxygen

Sulfur

VdB 47 - Sh2-243

Canadian Astronomer Sidney van den Bergh published a catalog of reflection nebulae in 1966 and this was his 47th entry. VdB 47, also known as Sh2-243, is a reflection nebula illuminated by an orange supergiant star, HD 37387, which is also responsible for the nebula's unique yellow-orange color. In my image it is the largest bright yellow star in the center of the image. The bright blue star southwest of the illuminating star is actually two stars but it is unclear if they are orbiting each other. Located 6500 light-years in the constellation of Taurus this nebula may be associated with a larger cloud in the region. It is also listed as a Sharpless Catalog object (Sh2-243) which suggests ionizing hydrogen, however, very little ionizing hydrogen has been detected.

I really like reflection nebulae and this one does not disappoint especially with its unusual color.  Most reflection nebulae that I have seen are blue, white, or brown.  There are very few pictures of this on Astrobin most likely because it is overshadowed by much more popular objects such as M1 (Crab Nebula) which is only 1.5 degrees away and all of the Orion stuff which it borders.  Another difficulty of this object is that it is a reflection nebula so the sky has to be pretty dark (i.e. no moon).  The star field looked pretty interesting to me as well so although I did some star reduction, I tried to keep it minimal - plus I like stars anyway.

 

Dates: 1-3, 1-4, 1-7, 1-8

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VdB 47 - Sh2-243

Dates: 1-3, 1-4, 1-7, 1-8
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC-Pro
Telescope: Celestron EdgeHD 800
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 2032mm (native)
F/10 (native)
Focal Reducer: Celestron .7 Reducer Lens
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: Baader Optolong Luminosity (2-inch)
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to an Orion ST80
Exposure: NBZ 252 x 90
Gain: 139
Offset 0
Temp: -20 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, Gradient Exterminator, Star Exterminator, Topaz DeNoiseAI.

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