Observation by David Davies: M 76

Uploaded by

David Davies

Observer

David Davies

Observed

2023 Nov 03 - 23:59

Uploaded

2023 Nov 07 - 17:22

Objects

The Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76)

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Constellation

Perseus

Field centre

RA: 01^h42^m
Dec: +51°34'
Position angle: -1°24'

Field size

0°21' × 0°16'

Equipment

250mm Ritchey-Chretien telescope
ZWO ASI 071 camera
Skywatcher EQ8 mount
Antlia ALP-T dual band 5nm filter

Exposure

30 x 180s RGB, 30 x 300s NB, 10 x 600s NB

Location

Cambridge, UK

Target name

Messier 76, The Little Dumbbell Nebula

Title

M 76

About this image

This was a revisit of M76 since I last observed it in 2014. I remember how disappointed I was then, seeing it quite small and faint apart from the relatively bright core. That finding was one of the drivers of my desire for a longer focal-length telescope than my then 1000mm Newtonian.

Processing the data was my first encounter with narrow-band data from a one-shot-colour camera using the Antlia dual-band filter. I ended up with three calibrated master files (using APP) from which I extracted their colour components. I RSS'd the narrow-band components using PixelMath and combined the RGB and narrow-band data using the NBRGB script in Pixinsight. I stretched the final data three times and at three different intensities, one for the core, one for the 'wings' and one for the faint outer whisps. I then blended the three images in Photoshop using layer masks. The image of the stars was extracted from the RGB image and finally reunited with the nebula image in Photoshop.

Files associated with this observation

M76_NBRGB_crop.jpg (1.3 MB)

Like this image

Jim Tomney, Paul Whitmarsh, Callum Potter, Simon Paul Davis, Grant Privett, Graham Winstanley, Hugh Allen

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