A framing of the area in Gemini containing the large and bright star cluster Messier (M) 35 at right and the curving Jellyfish Nebula, aka IC 443, at
A framing of the area in Gemini containing the large and bright star cluster Messier (M) 35 at right and the curving Jellyfish Nebula, aka IC 443, at left, near the star Propus or eta Geminorum. The small but rich star cluster below M35 is NGC 2158 . The blue reflection nebula above the Jellyfish is IC 444. The Jellyfish is a supernova remnant some 1500 light years away and about 21 light years across. This is a stack of 6 x 8-minute exposures and 8 x 4-minute exposures, all at ISO 800 with the Canon EOS Ra red-sensitive camera, and through the SharpStar 94mm apo refractor at with the EDPH field flattener/reducer. The later shorter exposures were shot with the field getting low in the west and into the murk and light pollution on an early April evening. I shot these as part of testing the new SharpStar 94mm EDPH refractor. No nebula filter was employed here. Luminosity masks with Lumenzia applied as well as a layer of contrast boost applied to the nebulas using the Pro Contrast filter in the Nik Collection Color EFX Pro set of filters. All stacking and blending was with Photoshop. No dark frames taken or applied, just dithering applied between exposures to shift each image by 5 pixels. Auto-guiding, camera control and dithering were with the Lacerta MGEN3 stand-alone auto-guider.
Size: 5400px × 3536px
Photo credit: © Alan Dyer / VWPics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 89, 443, 444, 2157, 2158, 94mm, astrograph, cluster, collection, collinder, color, contrast, cr89, dithering, efx, emission, eos, eta, galaxy, gemini, geminorum, high, ic, jellyfish, lumenzia, m35, messier, mgen3, mu, nebula, ngc, nik, open, pass, posterior, pro, propus, ra, remnant, sharpen, sharpstar, snr, star, supernova, tejat
