Cave Nebula in HOO - WIP

[STEVE333]

The smoke situation continues to improve here in California.

My first time imaging this nebula in narrowband. This is a fairly faint diffuse emission nebula at a distance of 2400 light years. It is located in Cephus. The Ha data has a great deal of visible structure. The Oiii data, at first, appeared to have no visible structure. Only after stacking the images was any real structure apparent.

IMAGE DETAILS:
WO Star 71 telescope, ASI1600MM camera, 3nm Chroma filters, Orion MMAG guiding
Ha 24 x 600 sec (4 hr)
Oiii 24 x 600 sec (4 hr)
Guided with PHD2, Captured with APT, Processed with PixInsight

Cave HOO Boost by STEPHEN KING, on Flickr

I'm hoping to capture 4 hr of Sii to finish this off tonight. Three late nights in a row will be a record for me both from the point of view of consecutive clear nights as well as from the point of view of going to bed three nights in a row at about 1:30am. Not as easy as it used to be to stay up late. Poor me - chuckles.

Thanks for looking.

Steve

[mbocca]

Steve,

This is a tough hobby. Not only is capturing a faint DSOs difficult, but it is done at night in a sleep deprived state.

The image looks great. Good luck with the SII tonight.

Mike

[Juno16]

Really beautiful image Steve!

I like the light orange glow near the center of the nebula. Good luck tonight!

[STEVE333]

Steve,

This is a tough hobby. Not only is capturing a faint DSOs difficult, but it is done at night in a sleep deprived state.

The image looks great. Good luck with the SII tonight.

Mike

Couldn't agree more Mike. Thanks. And thanks for making me chuckle. I just woke up from a nap. I don't normally take naps, but, I'm hoping it will help to keep me alert till the data is all collected and the equipment brought in safely at around 1:30am.

Really beautiful image Steve!

I like the light orange glow near the center of the nebula. Good luck tonight!

Thanks Jim. I took one image of Sii last night to see what it would "add to the party". I think it is going to contribute right where the orange glow occurs. Should be interesting.

Steve

[TheButcher]

Excellent Steve! have fun getting some Sii in. I can't wait to see it!

[Jockinireland]

Looks great already. I hear you on the late nights. I had an unprecedented 2 in a row last week end and was almost glad when it clouded over on the third night!

[Peter802]

A fine looking image Steve.
Yes it gets harder as one gets older.
What was once easy to achieve grows a little harder every day.
Thank you for the share.

[BABOafrica]

Well at least you don't have to contend with the smoke as much now.

Great start on that target. Love the color even as it is. It can only get better.

BABO

[MariusD69]

Wonderful! Well done, Steve!

[Mac]

Very nice capture Steve... I did this one last night and didn't even know the name. Stellarium didn't show it to me and didn't research. Mine is not even close to the detail in yours.

Great job.

[ic_1101]

Very nice capture Steve, looking forward to the final image.