IC 434 Horsehead First light in Sydney

[Startrek]

I’ve never captured the Horsehead from Sydney ( only down South a few times under Bortle 3 skies ) so this is my first under Bortle 7/8 skies , 80% waxing moon , OSC with Antlia Dualband filter and about 2hrs of data

Usual rig
6” f6 GSO Bintel Newt
Skywatcher EQ6-R pro mount
ZWO 2600MC cooled to -10C , Gain 100
Antlia ALPT filter
42 x 3 min dithered guided subs
40 x Flats
60 x Bias
PHD2 Multistar guiding ( Best guiding numbers for a while 0.45 to 0.55 total ) dropped the gain setting in PHD2 on the 120MM-S down to 85 which worked well to keep noise down and stop the guide star saturating under bright moon glare
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools v1.8

The 2hrs stacked image was a real noisy mess even with the Antlia OSC 5nm filter as SNR would have been very low with limited data
Also bit too heavy handed on the saturation but it does make it “pop “ a little bit more I suppose.
I orientated the sensor and framing to try and keep the influence of the Flame and Alnitak out of view , plus some cropping to go with it.

Yes I know , I should capture 6 to 10 hrs or more under my conditions and equipment but busy time of the year and I had limited time, just pleased I captured something
Packing the rig away tomorrow as I’ve got a few family/ friends events in my backyard from now to Xmas , plus heading down south to my Dome for a month or so after Xmas

Obviously not the most ideal set of equipment for capturing this unique target ( Mono and filters is king on this target no matter what Sky and conditions )

Anyway thanks for looking

Comments always welcome

[Dave882]

Good to see you’re making the most of the few glimpses of clear sky we’ve had! I find this region quite intriguing with nb bringing out the texture in the nebulously behind the horse head and if you have the chance to go broadband there’s lovely reflection nebula interwoven. The colour can be quite subjective but I think you’ve made a good choice given the short integration to get the best overall pic. Nice work!!

You’re not gunna want to come back to Syd after spending some time with your dome. I hope you get some clear sky I can’t wait to see what you can crank out with the 10”!

[Startrek]

Thanks Dave
Yeh I captured it last year down south with my old 8” in the Dome and no filters ( 2600MC ) Broadband definitely brings out all the reflection colours but also allows Alnitak to monster your image with glare plus enormous diffraction spikes which seem to extend forever
I can’t image what the 10” will do
It’s definitely a target more suited for the 80mm to 100mm refractors ( or your Hyperstar ) they can encompass the whole area including the Flame with a wider FOV plus much easier to use Star reductions tools to tame Alnitak without those huge diffraction spikes
Still a fun object to image with a Newt just the same
Cheers
Martin

[akairouz]

Love it. Great image on a tough target.