IC 1396 from France, my own backyard and remote
The large emission nebula IC 1396 is located in the constellation Cepheus. This vast and dynamic region of glowing hydrogen gas is interwoven with dark dust clouds and active star-forming regions. One of its most famous features is the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (IC 1396A)—a long, sinuous column of dust and gas shaped by intense stellar winds and radiation from nearby massive stars.
In 2021, I received data sets from Telescope Live, which operates a network of professional observatories in Chile, Australia, and Spain. The high-quality data provided a remarkable glimpse into this intricate region, highlighting the balance between creation and erosion within the nebula—where new stars are born as old structures are sculpted away.
The data calibration, registration, and final image processing were carried out entirely with PixInsight.
The result was as follows:
The images were taken with the following equipment:
- Date: 2021
- Location: IC Observatory Spain
- Telescope: FSQ 106
- Focal length [mm]: 390
- Focal ratio: 3.6
- Mount: Paramount MX+
- Camera: FLI Proline 16803
- Filter: Hα:[OIII]:[SII]
- Exposure time [min]: 470:450:460
- Resolution: 4.75″/px
During my holiday in Banon, France I took some images of this object with my mobile equipment
The data calibration and registration and the final processing was done with PixInsight. The result was as follows:
The images were taken with the following equipment:
- Date: 2019
- Location: Banon, France
- Telescope: Canon 24-105mm lens
- Focal length [mm]: 102,5
- Focal ratio: 4
- Mount: Vixen Skywatcher Star Adventurer
- Camera: Canon 6D
- Filter: OSC
- Exposure time [min]: 200
- Resolution: 13.2″/px
In 2009 I took some images of this object from my backyard.
The data calibration and registration was done with DeepSkyStacker, the final processing was done with PixInsight. The result was as follows:
The images were taken with the following equipment:
- Date: 2009
- Location: Krefeld, Germany
- Telescope: Pentacon 200mm lens
- Focal length [mm]: 200
- Focal ratio: 4
- Mount: Skywatcher NEQ6
- Camera: Canon 300Da
- Filter: OSC
- Exposure time [min]: 180
- Resolution: 11.5″/px
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