Cosmic Eruption

Originally thought to be a planetary nebula, Abell included this object in his catalogue as Abell-85 but later in 1971 it was revised as a supernova remnant (SNR) and renamed CTB-1, thus also denoting it as a radio source.  The overall structure is a circular shell with a conspicuous rupture towards the north (bottom right of image).  The main red Ha-shell is composed of multiple interlocking filament limbs, with a blue / green OIII arc along one side (see main image above).

I experimented extensively processing the data because of its overall complexity and is an interesting object, which is therfore also presented below as greyscale Ha-wavelength only and starless versions.  The main Ha and OIII data is shot at long 1,800 second exposures, which together with RGB adds up to a whopping 29 hours of integration time. However, CTB-1 is an extremely faint object, which probably still requires considerably more time – I’ve seen somebody else’s 61-hour integration which they described as “not enough” and despite the quality of their image I’d probably have to agree.  

CTB-1 is a very exciting object, which might have been what Douglas Adams had in mind when creating Milliways or The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe in the Hitchhiker’s Guide, from which such spectacular events could be ordered to view with your meal! 

 IMAGING DETAILS
ObjectCTB-1  (Abell-85)
ConstellationCassiopeia
Distance10,000  light-years
Size 35 arcminutes ~  100 light-years
Apparent Magnitude–  
  
Scope Takahashi FSQ 106  FL 530mm  f/5  +  Moonlight Nightcrawler focuser  
MountParamount MyT
GuidingYes
CameraQSI 683-WSG8    KAF-8300 full frame CCD sensor   5.4nm pixels  
 FOV 1.94o x 1.46o   Resolution 2.1”/pix.   Image array 3326 x 2,507 pix   
ProcessingDeep Sky Stacker,  PixInsight v1.8.8-8,  Photoshop CS3
Image Location &             OrientationCentre  –  RA 23:59:19.402      DEC +62:25:39.406   
North = bottom right                    
Exposures29 Ha &  20 OIII x 1,800 secs  @ -15C 18 R  17 G  19 B x 300 secs Total Integration Time: 29hr     
Calibration48 x 1,800 secs Darks* x47 Bias  &  x16 HaOIII +LRGB Flats *RGB scaled to 300sec  
Location & DarknessDeep Sky West – amateur hosting facility near Rowe, New Mexico  – USA    SQM Typically >= 21.7
Date & TimeQ3  2020    

The Bat & Squid

Discovered as recently as 2011 by French astronomer Nicolas Outters, is the very faint OIII emission nebula Ou4.  Located in the constellation of Cepheus , this somewhat elusive object requires very long exposures and integration time to successfully image.  For obvious reasons Ou4 has become known more commonly as the Giant Squid Nebula and belongs to the difficult but must-do objects list of astrophotographers.  Moreover, the Squid lies within the much larger SH2-129 HII emission region or the Flying Bat Nebula, only part of which is shown here.  In this case some 40-hours of exposure, of which the Squid is 15-hours, combined with careful processing has produced a wonderful image of both these exciting objects.

Initially considered to be a Planetary Nebula, Ou4 is now thought to be a bipolar outflow that was discharged 90,000 years ago from the hot massive triple star system HR 8119 situated within the Sh 2-129 HII-region, which is also responsible for ionizing the red emission nebula itself.  The Squid consists of two collimated lobes with arc-shaped tips of enhanced OIII emission that resemble bow-shocks seen in stellar outflows and a few bubbles and filamentary arcs. The bipolar Ou4 lobes measure some 50×8 light-years, which though faint forms one of astrophotography’s great spectacles.

 IMAGING DETAILS
ObjectSH2-129  Flying Bat & Giant Squid Nebula
ConstellationCepheus
Distance2,300  light-years
Size Approx. 100.0 arc minutes
Apparent Magnitude–  
  
Scope Takahashi FSQ 106  FL 530mm  f/5  +  Moonlight Nightcrawler focuser  
MountParamount MyT
GuidingYes
CameraQSI 683-WSG8    KAF-8300 full frame CCD sensor   5.4nm pixels  
 FOV 1.94o x 1.46o   Resolution 2.1”/pix.   Image array 3326 x 2,507 pix   
ProcessingDeep Sky Stacker,  PixInsight v1.8.8-7,  Photoshop CS3, Topaz Denoise
Image Location               Centre  –  RA 21:12:37.077      DEC +59:53:50.801                       
Exposuresx51 Ha  & x30 OIII x 1,800 secs  @ -20C Total Integration Time: 40hr 30min     
Calibration24 x 1,800 secs Darks   x70 Bias  &  70 Ha & Flats   
Location & DarknessDeep Sky West – amateur hosting facility near Rowe, New Mexico  – USA    SQM Typically >= 21.7
Date & TimeQ3  2018