Melotte 15 - Center of Heart Nebula in HaRGB

The Heart Nebula, IC 1805, Sh2-190, lies some 7500 light years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. This is an emission nebula showing glowing gas and darker dust lanes. The nebula is formed by plasma of ionized hydrogen and free electrons.

The very brightest part of this nebula (the knot at the right) is separately classified as NGC 896, because it was the first part of this nebula to be discovered.

The nebula's intense red output and its configuration are driven by the radiation emanating from a small group of stars near the nebula's center. This open cluster of stars known as Melotte 15 contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun's mass. The cluster used to contain a microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago.

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: NEQ6 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm, Baader R,G,B, IDAS LPS
Filter Wheel: Starlight Xpress Motor USB, 7x1.25''
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Exp. Time: HaR RGB,Ha: 2h (bin 1x1), R,G,B: 15,15,15 min (bin 2x2)
Calibration Frames: 50 flats in each filter, 50 bias, 6 dark frames
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 6 Nov 2010
Location: Athens, GR

Melotte 15 Wiki

IC 1795 - North Bear Nebula

IC 1795 - North Bear Nebula in HaRGB



IC 1795 - North Bear Nebula in Ha



IC 1795 is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation of Cassiopeia. It is a part of the rich and spectacular nebular complex IC 1805 The Heart Nebula.

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: NEQ6 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm, Baader R,G,B, IDAS LPS
Filter Wheel: Starlight Xpress Motor USB, 7x1.25''
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Exp. Time: HaR RGB,Ha: 2h (bin 1x1), R,G,B: 15,15,15 min (bin 2x2)
Calibration Frames: 50 flats in each filter, 50 bias, 6 dark frames
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 5 Nov 2010
Location: Athens, GR

IC 1795 - North Bear Nebula Wiki

NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula in Ha

NGC 7635, also called the Bubble Nebula and Sharpless 162, is a H II region emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52.
The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive hot, 8.7 magnitude young central star, the 15 ± 5 M☉[4] SAO 20575 (BD+60 2522).
The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud which contains the expansion of the bubble nebula while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow.

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: HEQ5 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Exp. Time: 112 minutes, bin 1x1
Calibration Frames: no calibration frames
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 17 Sep 2010
Location: Athens, GR

NGC 7635 - Bubble Nebula Wiki

NGC 281 - Packman Nebula in Ha

NGC 281 is an H II region in the constellation of Cassiopeia and part of the Perseus Spiral Arm. It includes the open cluster IC 1590, the multiple star HD 5005, and several Bok globules. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.

The nebula was discovered in August 1883 by E. E. Barnard, who described it as "a large faint nebula, very diffuse." The multiple star HD 5005, also called β1, was discovered by S. W. Burnham. It consists of an 8th-magnitude primary with four companions at distances between 1.4 and 15.7 seconds of arc. There has been no appreciable change in this quintuple system since the first measurements were made in 1875.

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: HEQ5 Pro with EQ Mod and XBOX Wireless Controller
Camera: ATIK 314L+
Image Scale: 1.91 arcsec/pixel
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm
Guide Camera: QHY5 with PHD Guiding and TS UV/IR Block
Guide Scope: Skywatcher Finderscope 8x50
Exp. Time: 1h, bin 1x1
Calibration Frames: no calibration frames
Capture: Nebulosity 2.3.0
Register, Stack: Maxim DL, CCD Stack
Processing: Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Date: 17 Sep 2010
Location: Athens, GR

NGC 281 - Packman Nebula Wiki

NGC 7380 - Wizard Nebula in Ha

NGC 7380 is an open cluster discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. It is also known as 142 in the 1959 Sharpless catalog (Sh2-142).
Known as the Wizard Nebula, this object is a reasonably large nebula located in Cepheus.

NGC 7380 is located in the constellation Cepheus about 7,000 light-years from Earth within the Milky Way Galaxy. The star cluster is embedded in a nebula, which spans some 110 light-years. The stars of NGC 7380 have emerged from this star-forming region in the last 5 million years or so, making it a relatively young cluster.


Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: Baader Ha 7nm
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 100 mins, bin 2x2
Calibration Frames: 30 flat, 50 bias, 6 darks
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Register, Stack: CCD Stack
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 14 Aug 2010
Location: Athens, GR

NGC 7380 - Wizard Nebula Wiki

NGC 6960 - Western Veil Nebula & NGC 6992 - Eastern Veil Nebula

NGC 6992 - Eastern Veil Nebula 'Network Nebula'



Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: IDAS LPS
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 3hours, bin 1x1
Calibration Frames: 30 flat, 50 bias
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 14 Jul 2010
Location: Tiros Arkadias, GR


NGC 6960 - Western Veil Nebula 'Witch's Broom Nebula'



Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: IDAS LPS
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 3 hours & 40 mins, bin 1x1
Calibration Frames: 50 flat, 50 bias
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 9 Jul 2010
Location: Parnon Mount, GR

The Veil Nebula, is part of the Cygnus Loop, radio source W78, or Sharpless 103. Other parts of the loop include the 'Eastern Veil', the 'Western Veil' or 'Witch's Broom Nebula', and Pickering's Triangular Wisp. It is a large, relatively faint supernova remnant in the constellation Cygnus. The source supernova exploded some 5,000 to 8,000 years ago, and the remnants have since expanded to cover an area of ~3x3 degrees; about 6 times the diameter or 36 times the area of a full moon.

The distance to the nebula is not precisely known, with estimates ranging from 1,400 to 2,600 light-years. It was discovered on 1784 September 5 by William Herschel. He described the western end of the nebula as "Extended; passes thro' 52 Cygni... near 2 degree in length." and described the eastern end as "Branching nebulosity... The following part divides into several streams uniting again towards the south."

The Hubble Space Telescope captured images of the nebula. The analysis of the emissions from the nebula indicate the presence of oxygen, sulfur, and hydrogen.

Veil Nebula Wiki

M27 - Dumbbel Nebula

The nebula forms as the star's outer layers are expelled into space, with a visible glow generated by atoms excited by the dying star's intense but invisible ultraviolet light. The Dumbbell Nebula, the beautifully symmetric interstellar gas cloud, is over 2.5 light-years across and about 1,200 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula.

This impressive color composite highlights subtle jet features in the nebula. It was recorded with a robotic telescope sited in Hawaii using narrow band filters sensitive to emission from oxygen atoms (shown in green) and hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen emission is seen as red (H-alpha) and fainter bluish hues (H-beta).

Telescope: APM Astrograph 107, f/6.5 with Baader Steeltrack Focuser and 2.5'' TS FF
Mount: HEQ5 Pro
Camera: QHY8
Filter: IDAS LPS
Guidescope: Skywatcher 70/500mm
Guide with LVI SmartGuider
Exp. Time: 100 mins, bin 1x1
Calibration Frames: 30 flat, 50 bias
Capture: Nebulosity 2.2.5
Stack: Nebulosity 2.2.5 & Deep Sky Stacker
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Date: 10 Jul 2010
Location: Parnon Mount, GR

M27 - Dumbbel Nebula Wiki