This is a narrowband Image of NGC 281, better known as the PacMan nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This object is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way’s Perseus Spiral Arm. This 20×30 arcmin sized nebulosity is also associated with open cluster IC 1590, several Bok globules and the multiple star, B 1.
This false color image was created by combining 3 monochrome images, taken through Hydrogen Alpha, Oxygen III, and Sulphur narrowband filters, respectively. In this image, the Hydrogen Alpha was mapped to Red, the Oxygen III image mapped to Green, and the Sulphur image mapped to Blue. This type of image reveals the structure of the nebula in the emission of the three different elements.
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Image Info
This was taken with the newly upgraded travel astrophotography kit:
- Camera : ZWO ASI1600MM pro
- Lens: Canon 100-400 f/5.6L lens, set to 400mm
- Mount: iOptron SmartEQ Pro
- Hydrogen Alpha: 22 subframes of 300s = 110min integration
- Oxygen III: 22 subframes of 300s = 110min integration
- Sulfur: 22 subframes of 300s = 110 min integration
- Total integration time: 330min = 5 hours, 30 min.
- Captured via ASIAir Pro automation
- Optical tracking via ASIAir automation, currently using ST4 mount control via the ASI120MM-S guide camera
- Separate channels aligned and stacked in Nebulosity, and then processed in StarTools
- Color integrated in PhotoShop
- Final processing in Aperture