Other
M16 - Eagle Nebula in Serpens Cauda LUM
Orientation: North is LEFT - Distance: ~7000 light years
Image Size: ~27x20 arc minutes - Image Scale: ~2.12
DATE: 08/26/2008
Conditions: Seeing Good. Transparency Good. Partly stable skies. Temp ~60 degrees F.
The Eagle Nebula is rather low on the horizon. Due to my observatory location AND the treeline, I have a VERY small window of opportunity to imgage objects at this declination. Unfortunately I am missing a LOT of wonderful objects in this region of the sky. M16 peeked out behind a tree, I began imaging, and 20 minutes later, it was lost again. Thus this very short exposure. Still, it was nice to capture something.
This image has been placed in the OTHER gallery (for now), as I don't really consider this a serious effort. I snapped a quick pic to see what I would get. I figured I'd post the results anyway.
Processing:
MaximDL 4.x -Calibrate, Align, Sigma Reject Combine, Linear DDP Stretch, ,Medium Unsharp Mask.
Comment:
Focus wasn't that great.. I had to move quick due to limited opportunity. Also it being lower declination means I need to image through substantially more atmosphere.
Bias, and Darks were used. No flats. Star2000 self guided.
Total Exposures: 16 minutes
Lum 16 min Bin 1x1