Reminiscent of the spacecraft from the 80's classic movie "Flight of the Navigator" the SH2-308 O3 rich Wolf-Rayet super bubble arrives majestically at it's cosmic Hydrogen rich space dock.
Most of the data captured using my gear with Voyager - by my good friend "The Bluester" at his rural darksite - my gear enjoyed a long holiday there, and didn't want to come home!
(Some O3 data also captured here under my LP Bortle 7 skies.)
This target is 4,500 LY distant and has become much more popular nowadays!
When I first imaged it in 2015 mine was on one of only 10 images published online - now there are hundreds more, which is totally cool - it's a truly amazing target.
I was keen to revisit it with my new gear and show a little more context including it's surrounds instead of just the bubble itself.
FYI - The nebula was formed about 70,000 years ago by the star EZ Canis Majoris throwing off its outer hydrogen layers, revealing inner layers of heavier elements. Fast stellar winds, blowing at 1,700 km/s (3.8 million mph) from this star, create the bubble-shaped nebula as they sweep up slower moving material from an earlier phase of the star's evolution. The hydrogen composing the nebula is ionised by intense ultraviolet radiation.The nebula is approximately 60 light-years across at its widest point.
Hope you enjoy this bicolour HA O3 RGB image here on ASTROBIN.
DEFINITELY an 80s sci fi vibe with this one, Andy
Getting hints of Cocoon as well.
Really lovely shot and excellent composition. There’s a boat load of Ha in that area isn’t there?!
I’m hoping this will be my first target when the mono camera arrives. Thanks for the inspiration
Andy,
Wow what an image and some serious workload to capture it too
Those Chroma filters certainly have captured the data / detail
Nice reading about this object and a bit of science thrown in as well
Well done indeed
Cheers
Martin
By the way, Andy. The RGB shots, was that just for stars? If so, why did you choose 5min subs? And how did you not blow out the stars?
I was going to aim for about 60-90 seconds tops per RGB filter, but now you've made me question that.
A stunning image Andy, perhaps one of your best - hard to say as you have so many excellent images.
Where did you get the clear skies? Its been cloudy here in Sydney now for several months with perhaps the odd one or two nights that sometimes cloud over later.
This is also one of my most favourite objects and you have done it superbly. I like the extended field of view as that picks up the interesting Ha on the left.
You handled that blue O111 background well. I got a bit confused when my image picked up a lot of that and I wasn't sure if it was a gradient or not.
I'd love to see a landscape orientation version of it. If the angles work out.
Your TOA 130 scope with reducer is very similar to my AP130 and reducer. I thought it would be the ideal instrument for this object and your image shows that. I did a test image of this about a year ago with the CFF 105 F6 and a Riccardi 83mm reducer and QHY600m. It looked stunning but the reducer would have to be distanced properly, corner stars were hideous!
So by the time I would crop out the bad bits I would be back to an equivalent 130mm F4.5 size. I was planning to make it a project this year but weather has intervened.
DEFINITELY an 80s sci fi vibe with this one, Andy
Getting hints of Cocoon as well.
Really lovely shot and excellent composition. There’s a boat load of Ha in that area isn’t there?!
I’m hoping this will be my first target when the mono camera arrives. Thanks for the inspiration
Cheers Adam,
With three teenage boys at home Saturday nights are usually Pizza & family movie nights. Looks like this classic from the 80's is due for an appearance!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pkinchington
Beautifully executed!
Thanks Peter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Startrek
Andy,
Wow what an image and some serious workload to capture it too
Those Chroma filters certainly have captured the data / detail
Nice reading about this object and a bit of science thrown in as well
Well done indeed
Cheers
Martin
Cheers Martin, never easy to add something new to a popularly imaged target, so had throw the kitchen sink at this one! Thanks for the nice feedback.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamJL
By the way, Andy. The RGB shots, was that just for stars? If so, why did you choose 5min subs? And how did you not blow out the stars?
I was going to aim for about 60-90 seconds tops per RGB filter, but now you've made me question that.
Hey Adam, in hindsight I could probably cut the RGB exposures back to 4 or even 3 mins - still getting used to imaging at a darksite! My workflow for HaO3 RGB is based on Marco's HERE
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikolas
Awesome mate what was the final focal length?
Cheers Nik - with the reducer it's 691mm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Placidus
That's the best shot of the gourd that I've seen. Just love the wider field giving context.
Thanks very much M&T! Much appreciated
Quote:
Originally Posted by marc4darkskies
That's a ripper of an image Andy! Can't fault it... and I looked closely.
Thanks Sensei Marcus! - Really appreciate you dropping by and your nice feedback!
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
A stunning image Andy, perhaps one of your best - hard to say as you have so many excellent images.
This is also one of my most favourite objects and you have done it superbly. I like the extended field of view as that picks up the interesting Ha on the left.
You handled that blue O111 background well. I got a bit confused when my image picked up a lot of that and I wasn't sure if it was a gradient or not.
Your TOA 130 scope with reducer is very similar to my AP130 and reducer. I thought it would be the ideal instrument for this object and your image shows that. I did a test image of this about a year ago with the CFF 105 F6 and a Riccardi 83mm reducer and QHY600m. It looked stunning but the reducer would have to be distanced properly, corner stars were hideous!
So by the time I would crop out the bad bits I would be back to an equivalent 130mm F4.5 size. I was planning to make it a project this year but weather has intervened.
Greg.
Cheers Greg, indeed this wider field revisit to the Bubble has been on my radar for many years, and it isn't an easy object to process.
I just needed to get the Tak & reducer properly sorted first. My QSI 6162 camera's large sensor meant that niggling minor tilt & spacing issues have progressively been tweaked with the kind assistance of Diego from Sidereal Trading, and Stefan Buda - almost 100% there now.
Hey Adam, in hindsight I could probably cut the RGB exposures back to 4 or even 3 mins - still getting used to imaging at a darksite! My workflow for HaO3 RGB is based on Marco's HERE
Brilliant, thanks for the link! Very handy (is the dark site the same one in your recent video where you tested Voyager out?)
Fabulous looking image that Andy and great framing, very well done indeed Seriously, it's gotta be one of the most photogenic and coolest looking objects in the sky, even basic images of it look ok because it is just so intriguing and 3D, great versions, like this, just look plain awesome!
Good to hear you are going remote too, dark skies are a blessing and make lots more objects viable targets and processing easier
- it's a truly amazing target. 
