By Brenda Greebe | 2024-09-07
Small, faint nebulae (Lion, Wizard & Cave) between Cepheus and Cassiopeia
On 09/06/2024 01:00 am by Andy Dungan| Near Cotopaxi, CO USA
From 9/3 to 9/6 I took the exposures (listed above) for this composite of 3 Nebulae that are found in the Cepheus Constellation. All of these nebulae lie on the Cassiopeia side of Cepheus. In the night sky around midnight Lion sits highest, Wizard is next and Cave is below and closest to Polaris. I found out when taking pics of Wizard how much difference using an Ha+OIII filter makes when taking pics of small, faint objects. It was genuinely exciting to see how much detail and color was brought out by the filter. These pics may not convey the excitement and fun I had exploring the night sky between Cepheus and Cassiopeia, but I can tell you it was fun. It was a lot like going for a walk and seeing a variety of new flowers blooming!
ASI585MC Pro gain 252, Askar V@600mm f7.5,
AM5/ASIair EAF, guiding with Askar OAG & ASI174mini
All exposures 10 min, 3hr 10 min for Lion, 5hr 10min for Wizard, 5hr 30min for Cave
And most important to these pics was the use of an Askar Ha+OIII filter to extract details from these relatively faint and small objects.
Affinity Photo 2 to stack/process, Starnet2 to separate stars