🔠2022 Gear Overview - I know it is 2023, but this hasn’t changed
Overview
The nights are starting to get a bit longer, which means I can get back out there to capture some pictures. It wasn’t the perfect night. We have been struggling with poor air quality over the past few days due to wildfires far away, so I wasn’t sure how clear the sky would be. However, I have been away from this for too long so I wanted to at least try to get something.
I ended up capturing the Omega nebula, which is M17. It is also known as Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, Lobster Nebula, Horseshoe Nebula, and NGC 6618. It is in the Milky Way near Sagittarius.
I debated trying to capture both M16 and M17 because both could fit in the frame with my telescope. However, that would put both near the edges of the frame, and I was a bit worried that I would not be happy with either one. In the past I’ve tried to do too much and ended up disappointed so I stuck to just this one.
I was hoping to be able to get more than 3 hours of capture time, but the darn Earth moved faster that I figured so the nebula went behind my house and then the horizon after just a few hours.
Since it has been months it took me a bit just to get everything set up and then more time after I was done to remember how to use all my software to stack the images.
Capture Details
60 3-minute subs
Calibration Frames
Total Capture time: 3 hours