In the Perseus arm of our galaxy we find two spectacular nebulae, the Heart (IC 1805) and Soul (IC1848) nebulae. Located around 7,500 light years away from us both cover a wide region of the night sky, in the Cassiopeia constellation. Several full moons could fit inside this image.
Both nebulae have high emission on the red spectrum and especially in the H alpha line. With the use of this filter we can capture its structure.
This image shows the Soul Nebula and is the result of combining a 12 pane H alpha mosaic and a 8 pane RGB mosaic. All the data was captured back in 2017 and I have been working with it for several years until I got this result. The new processing techniques and programs have played a relevant role in the high definition achieved. Faint planetary nebulae can be seen in the details of this image.
I hope you enjoy the image as much as I’ve done. Thanks for taking your time on this site.
Image Details
H alpha (x12): 207×600″ 0Gain Bin1
RGB (x8): 15×90″ (each panel) 300Gain Bin2
Calibrated with: 50 darks, 50 bias, 30 flats.
Total exposure: 43h30′
Data acquisition 2017
Equipment
FSQ85
Mesu 200
ASI1600MM-C + ZWO OAG with ASI174MC + ZWO EFW 8 pos
Software
APP, PIX, LR, PS, TPZ.
Aleix Roig, 2021
Prades (Tarragona, Catalonia – Spain).