This is a framing of the main area of central Auriga filled with an array of Messier star clusters and faint IC emission nebulas. The nebula at right
This is a framing of the main area of central Auriga filled with an array of Messier star clusters and faint IC emission nebulas. The nebula at right is the Flaming Star, aka IC 405. The nebula below centre is IC 410 with the star cluster NGC 1893. The nebula above centre is IC 417 with the star cluster Stock 8. The nebula at upper left is Sharpless 2-235; while the large elongated patch of nebulosity at top centre is Sharpless 2-230. The star cluster at top is Messier 38 with the small cluster NGC 1907 below it, while the large cluster left of centre is Messier 36. The group of stars between IC 405 and IC 410 right of centre is Melotte 31, aka the Little Fish or Flying Minnow asterism. This is a stack of: 10 x 6-minute exposures at ISO 3200 through a IDAS NB1 dual narrowband nebula filter in a dark moonless sky, blended with 8 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 800 with an Antlia RGB multi-band filter, with the latter set taken in bright moonlight a week later, with all frames with the filter-modified (by ) Canon R camera. These were all with the SharpStar 61mm EDPH II refractor at , on the Sky-Watcher EQM-35 mount autoguided with the ASIAir Mini and ZWO 30mm guidescope, as a test of the combination of entry-level gear, and of the Antlia filter to work under bright skies. However, the moonlit RGB filtered image stack was quite muddy when the blue moonlight was color corrected out, and doesn't contribute a lot to the final image. So most of this scene is from the narrowband filtered image stack, which records the nebulosity well but doesn't provide well-balanced natural star colours. Diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions to add a sparkling effect to the stars to partly counter their off-colour. Taken in late March 2023, late in the season for this area of sky, so it was well over in the west with only a limited time each night to shoot it. Cloudy nights prevented getting a non-filtered set in a dark sky.
Size: 6703px × 4287px
Photo credit: © Alan Dyer / VWPics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 31, 61, 405, 410, 417, 1907, 2023, amazing, antlia, asiair, asterism, astro, astrogear, astronomical, astronomy, astronomytools, astrophotography, auriga, blend, canon, cluster, cosmos, edphii, emission, eos, eqm-35, filter, fish, flaming, ic, idas, lumenzia, m36, m38, march, mel, melotte, messier, mini, moonlight, nb1, nebula, ngc, photokemi, rgb, science, sh2-230, sh2-235, sharpless, sharpstar, skies, sky, sky-watcher, star, unique
