Flaming Star Nebula

 

The Flaming Star Nebula (also known as IC 405, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31)

is a beautiful emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga.

It surrounds the bluish, irregular variable star AE Aurigae and shines at magnitude +6.0. 

Its celestial coordinates are RA 05h 16.2m dec +34° 28′.[2] 

The nebula measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth.

It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion's Belt area!

The nebula is about 5 light-years across.

Right-click on the photo and choose "Open image in a new tab" to view it larger.

Equipment used:

Telescope: DayStar 80mm f/6 480mm focal lenght doublet refractor

Camera:    Canon T3i body (modded for greater Ha light gathering)

Filter:        Dual band Ha & OII

Exposure info:  

    Date: Januray 12, 2024

    Subs: 24 @ 120 sec. each using iso 3200

Stacked with Affinity Photo for a total exposure time of 48 minutes.

Initial post-processing with SIRIL software

    "Background Extration"  to remove 

    "StarNet" for star extraction

Post-processed with Luminar 2018

The Rosette Nebula on a chilly night

 

(Note: by right-clicking on the image and selecting "Open image in new tab" 

you will see it much larger) 

It was cold but the skies were crisp and the Rosette Nebula was calling me.

More detail in it than I have captured before!

About the Rosette Nebula 

It is also known as Caldwell 49) is an H II region

located near one end of a giant molecular cloud

in the Monoceros region of the Milky Way Galaxy

to the west of the constellation Orion.

An open cluster of stars known as NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) 

is closely associated with the nebulosity,

the stars of the cluster having been formed from the nebula's matter.

Data about my image taken January 9, 2024:

45 - 2 minute shots combined for a total of 1.5 hours of integration time.

80mm Daystar Refractor - 480mm f/6

A modified Canon T3i camera (captures more reds aka Hydrogen Alpha light)

I did not use any special filters for this image.

Post-processed with Affinity Photo, Siril, Starnet and Luminar 2018