IC 1848 - Soul Nebula

IC 1848 - Soul Nebula: IC 1848, commonly called the Soul nebula, is a large emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. This nebula is near IC 1805, the Heart nebula, with the pair being called the Heart and Soul Nebulae. This star forming region is about 6500 light years away.

Other Catalogs: IC 1848
Right Ascension: 2 hr 51 m
Declination: 60° 27'

Date: January 2012
Equipment:
Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2
Telescope: Orion ED80T CF apo refractor
Televue 0.8x Field Flattener (38mm from focal plane)
Camera: SBIG ST-10XE
Guiding ST-80; DSI; PHD

Exposure: lum: 8x5min and 10x30sec
Ha: 12x10min
RGB: 5x5min

Processing Notes: All data was reduced in CCDStack and combined with Sigma Combine. The five minute and the 30 second luminance data were stretched in Photoshop to similar densities, and the brightest (over-exposed) areas of the five minute data were used as a mask to select and copy those regions from the 30 second data. The H-alpha data was pasted as a "normal" layer with 50% transparency onto the full spectrum data to make a single luminance layer. RGB was combined in CCDStack 1:1.05:1.75. The combined luminance was mixed with RGB in Photoshop. L as the base layer, RGB as the top layer, and an intervening RB layer used as a multiply (30%) to adjust the intensity of the colors. The flattened image was cropped.
Scale: ~3.6" / pixel

Links to images of this object on other sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Soul_Nebula.jpg
http://www.jthommes.com/Astro/LBN677-672.htm

Additional Comments: This was the first object imaged after receiving the field flattener. The spacing was still less than optimal, as the field flattener suggests 56mm, and the actual spaceing (from on-line documentation) was 38.7mm). Two issues made flat fielding difficult - frequent camera "fiddling", and the telescope location almost under a streetlight.

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