M27 6/7/10

16 June 2010

Here is a photo of M27 (aka The Dumbbell Nebula) that we took just over a week ago from a dark sky site near Wenachee, Washington.  You can compare this against our earlier attempt at m27 from three years ago by clicking on the “Nebulae” tab and scrolling to the bottom of the page.  Clearly we have made some real improvements in our capture techniques, processing techniques and equipment.

We had some problems with passing clouds, so we weren’t able to integrate a whole lot of frames.  Total integration time was one hour and ten minutes.  Here are the details:

M27 – Planetary Nebula
10 exposures with 6-minute subs at ISO 1600
10 exposures with 1-minute subs at ISO 1600
Imaging scope:  Celestron C11 on CGE Mount
Filters/Reducers:  Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer (no filters used)
Imaging camera:  Canon XS/1000d with heatmirror replace with Baader filter glass
Guide scope:  Vixen ED80SF
Guide camera:  Imaging source DMK21AU04.AS
Captured with Nebulosity
Guided with PHD
Stacked in DSS
Post processed in Fitswork and Photoshop