Off to See the Wizard

Now that my new computer is here, I'm back to imaging on clear nights (when the Boss allows it; she didn't last night, for example). Earlier this summer, I got good RGB data for NGC 7380, the Flying Horse or Wizard Nebula, so I decided to try it in Hα. Once again, the Hα filter added amazing detail to the nebulosity that I just couldn't get using the UHC-S filter before. I can easily see a "flying horse" in this image; the horse is upside-down, with its head at bottom center. I have more trouble seeing a wizard. If the images below are rotated 90° clockwise, I see what looks like the full body of a wizard standing up, with outstretched arms and a flowing cape. I had trouble seeing him because I was expecting a face wearing a wizard hat. Here's the Hα image (false colored). I got less data than intended, because acquisition froze about 40 minutes after I went to bed, but it still came out OK I think.

Conditions excellent again. Chose this target because I already have RGB data from this season at the same scale, so I intend to do HαRGB combination. Had a terrible time getting CdC+PicGoto to work correctly. Tried synching both from Delta and Zeta Cephei, and from both the synch seemed to work but as soon as I hit goto the telescope reticle in CdC would jump way off (in RA). Finally tried from Beta Cas, going the opposite direction in RA, and everything worked. After doing a meridian flip, the synch from Delta Cephei worked fine. Once again my session hung about 40 min. after I went to bed. I've searched both Windows and VMWare logs and so far haven't figured out what is going wrong. I suspect a bad VMWare setting.  I do get a Windows error about being unable to find a sound device each time this happens.

Date: 12 Sep 2014

Subject: NGC 7380, Flying Horse/Wizard Nebula

Scope: AT8IN

Filter: Baader Planetarium 7 nm H-α

Mount: CG-5 (Synta motors, PicGoto Simplificado)

Guiding: 9x50 Finder/Guider + DSI Ic + PHD 2.3.1 (Win 7 ASCOM)

Camera: DSI IIc chiller at 2.50 A, 6.5 °C

Acquisition: Nebulosity 3.2.1, no dither

Exposure: 18x600 s

Stacking: Neb 3, bad pixel map, bias included, extract R, normalize, square, trans+rot align, 1.5 SD stack, resize 2x (Catmull-Rom).

Processing: StarTools 1.3.5.279 Crop; Develop 75.00%; HDR:Optimize; Deconvolute 4.2 pix; Life:Moderate; Track:RNC 0.01%; CC 2014 Photoshop AstronomyTools B&W to Hα; Astro Frame.

I combined the Hα data with RGB (taken through a UHC-S filter) from 18 Jun this year to get the following in full color. I like this one.

This is an HαRRGB composite, combining my 12 Sep 2014 Hα data with 18 Jun 2014 RGB. I used Starizona Method 1, with the R (actually HαR) channel boosted 200% with the channel mixer. I can see the flying horse (he’s upside down, with his head at the center bottom in this image). The wizard is harder for me to picture. He's lying on his back, with his pointed cap to the left and arms outstretched. Maybe others see this differently than I do.