Barnard's Loop was a very challengoing object to shoot and process. I think I could have really benefited from having a cooled camera on this target. Nevertheless, I did get some data, showing how the loop forms a faint outer ring around one side of the Orion Nebula complex, with M42, the Flame Nebula, the Running Man Nebula and the Horsehead Nebula just able to be recognized in the frame as well. Equipment: Canon T2i (550D) (astro modified by Gary Honis) iOptron iEQ45Pro Mount Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 L IS Zoom lens at 70mm and f/4.5 QHY5L-II Guide Camera / Orion 8 x50 Guide Scope Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8.2 (Ripley) Lightroom 5.6 Light Frames: 1 x 420 secs (7 minutes total) @ ISO 800 7 x 600 secs (1 hour 10 minutes total) @ ISO 800 8 x 420 secs (56 minutes total) @ ISO 1600 Dark Frames: 4 x 420 secs @ ISO 1600 Flat Frames 10 x 1/80th sec @ ISO 1600 Details about Barnard's Loop (Sharpless Sh 2-276) From Wikipedia: Barnard's Loop (catalogue designation Sh 2-276) is an emission nebula in the constellation of Orion. It is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex which also contains the dark Horsehead and bright Orion nebulae. The loop takes the form of a large arc centred approximately on the Orion Nebula. The stars within the Orion Nebula are believed to be responsible for ionizing the loop. The loop extends over about 600 arcminutes as seen from Earth, covering much of Orion. It is well seen in long-exposure photographs, although observers under very dark skies may be able to see it with the naked eye. Recent estimates place it at a distance of either 159 pc (518 light years)[1] or 440 pc (1434 ly)[2] giving it dimensions of either about 100 or 300 ly across respectively. It is thought to have originated in a supernovaexplosion about 2 million years ago, which may have also created several known runaway stars, including AE Aurigae, Mu Columbae and 53 Arietis, which are believed to have been part of a multiple star system in which one component exploded as a supernova.[3] Full Wikipedia article found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard's_Loop
The excellent contrast provided by the dark skies was very evident from the very first night we arrived as I was able to capture a high contrast image of the California Nebula in natural color. Equipment: Canon T2i (550D) (astro modified by Gary Honis) iOptron iEQ45Pro Mount Canon 200mm f/2.8 L Lens @ f/4 QHY5L-II Guide Camera / Orion 8 x50 Guide Scope Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8.2 (Ripley) Lightroom 5.6 Light Frames: 9 x180 secs (27 minutes total) @ ISO 1600 Dark Frames: 8 x 180 secs @ ISO 1600 Details about The California Nebula From Wikipedia: The California Nebula (NGC 1499) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US State of California on long exposure photographs. It is almost 2.5° long on the sky and, because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to observe visually. It can be observed with a Hβ filter (isolates the Hβ line at 486 nm) in a rich-field telescope under dark skies.[1] It lies at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth. Its fluorescence is due to excitation of the Hβ line in the nebula by the nearby prodigiously energetic O7 star, xi Persei (also known as Menkib) Full details can be found on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Nebula
I took an RGB stack of M33 with the T2i and the Powernewt telescope. Conditions were excellent, and I was able to improve upon my previous efforts shooting this object with more magnification, longer integration times, and a darker sky. Equipment: Canon T2i (550D) (astro modified by Gary Honis) iOptron iEQ45Pro Mount Powernewt 8" Reflector at 568mm and f/2.8 QHY5L-II Guide Camera / Orion 8 x50 Guide Scope Software: Pixinsight Commercial Version 1.8.2 (Ripley) Lightroom 5.6 Light Frames: 52 x180 secs (2 hours 36 minutes total) @ ISO 800 Dark Frames: 10 x 180 secs @ ISO 800 Bias Frames 16 x 1/4000th sec @ ISO 800 Flat Frames 10 x 1/160th sec @ ISO 800 Details about The Triangulim Galaxy (M33) From Wikipedia: The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598, and is sometimes informally referred to as thePinwheel Galaxy, a nickname it shares with Messier 101. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, which includes the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy and about 44 other smaller galaxies. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye. Full info can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulum_Galaxy
