NGC6888 widefield in HST palette

[Paramount]

Hi
I started this object at the beginning of the month and managed to get the Ha and OIII data but as usual the clouds and rain came in so I have had to wait until last night when the weather forecast was cloud all night but the sky looked promising when I took Hunter and Gunner out for their last walk of the evening so I got everything set up and managed to get 3 hours of SII data. It was taken with
Takahashi FSQ106ED at f5
Starlight Xpress SXVF H36
5nm Ha, OIII and SII filters
Paramount ME
Auto guided by Starlight Xpress Lodestar and OAG using dithering
Exposures were 12x20 minutes each for Ha and OIII and 9x20 minutes for SII mapped to the HST palette so SII:Ha:OIII = R:G:B
All sub frames were fully calibrated with darks, dark subtracted flats and bias frames
The Ha and (Ha+OIII) versions can be seen on the 'Nebulae 2' page of the image gallery on my website http://www.imagingtheheavens.co.uk there is a full size high resolution image at this link http://www.pbase.com/imaging_the_heavens/image/126929771/original
where it is just possible to make out the "soap bubble" nebula to the lower right of the crescent
Thanks for looking
Best wishes
Gordon

http://www.imagingtheheavens.co.uk/userimages/ngc6888hst1000high.jpg

[RickJ]

Nice. Interesting how the SII is so strong in areas I'd not have suspected that. Might be how it is stretched.

I used to image on a friends farm. His dad's coon dog was a pain, he kept thinking my telescope pier was a fire hydrant. Hope you don't have that problem.

Rick

[Paramount]

Hi Rick
There is virtually no SII in the Crescent itself but there is a fair amount in the surrounding clouds, also the SII and OIII are boosted when doing the colour combine in Maxim DL. Hunter and Gunner are only allowed out into the back garden at night when I am there and they are steered well away from my imaging set up. During the day it is under weather proof covers
Best wishes
Gordon