NGC1579

[DeanWatson]

A jolly satisfying night last night.  Autoguiding now working a treat (stars a little oval being near the edge of the FOV of course... A little lazy of me in not reframing but what ho...).  what with the new balance bar.  I've never done this target before so didn't really know what to expect.  11x8 minutes at 800ISO and could probably do with a lot more but as I say, didn't know what to expect and ran out of time.  I'll revisit this and gather some more at some point.  Still, pretty happy with this not often visited target, I hope you like (kit used as per signature of course)

 

[+Ibbo]

This one is on my to do list.

 

[Tweedledee]

Nice image 👍. This is a very interesting rarely imaged object, often called The Northern Triffid Nebula. Not far away are a couple of other smaller faintish gems worth a look, NGC1514 and 1555.

[DeanWatson]

14 hours ago, Tweedledee said:

Nice image 👍. This is a very interesting rarely imaged object, often called The Northern Triffid Nebula. Not far away are a couple of other smaller faintish gems worth a look, NGC1514 and 1555.

Yes, that's right.  I saw it in Astronomy Now this month and felt like doing something a little off piste.  I suspect it would look better in various narrowband rather than just DSLR and of course would benefit from a fair bit more data at longer exposures.  I had been having some issues with my guiding equipment and so wasn't entirely trusting of it so kept to just (!) eight minutes times eleven but still reasonably pleased although it did take a fair bit of processing.  I wasn't aware of the other couple of objects you mention so will have to look those up and maybe have a crack, thanks very much.

[DeanWatson]

14 hours ago, Tweedledee said:

Nice image 👍. This is a very interesting rarely imaged object, often called The Northern Triffid Nebula. Not far away are a couple of other smaller faintish gems worth a look, NGC1514 and 1555.

Oh, they are nice although I suspect Hinds (1555) is a pig of a thing to image.  Nice planetary also (1514).

[Tweedledee]

Regarding NGC1555, Hinds Variable Nebula is very interesting because it can "apparently" change shape, size and brightness unlike most other DSO's. It is partly illuminated by the variable star T Tauri, but the changes in the nebula don't necessarily follow the cycle of T Tauri, so there are other factors at play.
I know nothing of AP, but since this nebula has been seen visually through larger dobs under dark skies, I'm sure it shouldn't be too difficult to image. Apparently it is one of only about seven such variable nebulae that are bright enough to be observed visually, although all challenging. As a small object, 1 or 2 arcminutes, it would probably benefit from longer focal length imaging. There have been periods when this nebula has dimmed so much it has totally dissappeared. I've read that currently it is at its brightest about mag 10, so it could be interesting to image this now and at various intervals spanning several years watching for changes.

[DeanWatson]

On 10/11/2021 at 16:39, Tweedledee said:

Regarding NGC1555, Hinds Variable Nebula is very interesting because it can "apparently" change shape, size and brightness unlike most other DSO's. It is partly illuminated by the variable star T Tauri, but the changes in the nebula don't necessarily follow the cycle of T Tauri, so there are other factors at play.
I know nothing of AP, but since this nebula has been seen visually through larger dobs under dark skies, I'm sure it shouldn't be too difficult to image. Apparently it is one of only about seven such variable nebulae that are bright enough to be observed visually, although all challenging. As a small object, 1 or 2 arcminutes, it would probably benefit from longer focal length imaging. There have been periods when this nebula has dimmed so much it has totally dissappeared. I've read that currently it is at its brightest about mag 10, so it could be interesting to image this now and at various intervals spanning several years watching for changes.

Observed visually? Do people still do that...?!!!!!! Kidding! Kidding!