The Flying Bat Nebula, Sh2-129, is a huge region of ionized hydrogen gas represented by the red color whereas the much dimmer Squid Nebula, Ou4, consists of (doubly) ionized oxygen gas. Located in Cepheus approximately 2,300 light-years away, Sh2-129 is a faint emission nebula and has been known about since at least the 1950's as a neighbor to IC 1396, the Elephant Trunk Nebula. The Squid (Ou4) sits within the Sh2-129 and does resemble a squid with its tentacles wrapped up. Ou4 is a relatively new discovery from 2011 by French astro-imager Nicolas Outters and it may seem odd that this was not found until 2011 but there is a really good reason, it is really dim.
This is my second go-around with this, however, this time I used the Askar FRA 300, a ZWO ASI2600MC color camera, and the IDAS NBZ dual band filter. Compared to my previous image from 2020 (
https://www.astrobin.com/dehe24/?nc=&nce=), the telescope has a smaller focal length and the camera has a larger sensor meaning the field of view is larger.
I was a bit apprehensive about attempting this with a color camera given how faint Ou4 is. The Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) signal was very strong and appeared in the individual subframes, however, there was no hint of OIII in any subframe. Color cameras don't capture as much individual color signal as does a mono camera in a given amount of time which is why I was concerned. I captured over 50 hours worth of data, much more than before, in order to ensure I would have enough signal to bring out the OIII.
After stacking the data, the Flying Bat was very clear and it mostly masked the faint Squid. To bring out the Squid, I separated the color image into RGB channels, using the red as the Ha portion, and combined the green and blue to make an OIII image. I was quite happy with the results as the Squid popped out quite well in the OIII image. I could have brought out the Ou4 even more but liked the natural looking faint translucent appearance.
Higher Quality:
Dates: 7-2-24, 7-8, 7-12, 7-14, 7-15, 7-19, 7-20, 7-26, 7-30, 8-2, 8-5, 8-12, 8-13
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Flying Bat & Squid w/ a Color Camera (2024) Dates: 7-2-24, 7-8, 7-12, 7-14, 7-15, 7-19, 7-20, 7-26, 7-30, 8-2, 8-5, 8-12, 8-13
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Telescope: Askar FRA300 Pro
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 300mm
F/5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: Orion Atlas Pro
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ, Camera UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope
Exposure: UV-IR 87 x 90, NBZ 627 x 300
Gain: 100
Offset 0
Temp: 0 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Color Masks, Bill's Star Reduction, Bill's Stretching, Topaz Denoise, GraXpert
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http://astroquest1.blogspot.com/
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