M27 - 2012 Version

[Jim McMillan]

Hi All,

I'm surprised there's so little posting of images here...I know there's a lot of images being taken (and not just for science either). In any event, I'm posting my 2012 version of M27. I'm not so sure the data is any better than last year's data, but I think my processing choices are a little better this time around. This is an L(R)RGB, where the L is really the R blended in at 50% (MaxIm) after sharpening it a bit (in other words, there's 2 version of R). Doing it this way emphasizes the detail in the Red - kind of a poor man's Ha. I also used a different guide star, hence the rotation angle is different, resulting in framing which I think is a bit more pleasing. I added one star spike via software because it tends to hide (or at least call attention away from) the reflection my old ST8e creates with bright stars.

All images were taken by ACP over just 1 night. More exposure would smooth the background some and increase the number of dim stars that are visible, but as far as the nebula itself goes, it probably would add very little since the SNR is already pretty high.

Jim