This won't win a contest. It is a proof of concept.
A few weeks ago a fellow at AstroBin won a NASA APOD:
https://www.astrobin.com/lg85ah/?nc=user
I've always loved dark nebulae but the thing that stood out to me is his Bortle 5 skies, same as mine. I've had limited success with dark nebulae partially because I haven't invested 15 hours like this gent. Recently I broke a personal record with 11.6 hours devoted to M81 so it is not out of the question to go even longer for LDN 1251. I just want some reasonable assurance of success. That was the purpose of this short imaging run on Pier 4: to get a sense of how difficult this target is. I am happy that I picked up the "smokey" parts of the nebula but I am still not convinced that I can achieve anything outstanding at home here under my Bortle 5 skies.
Brian
A few weeks ago a fellow at AstroBin won a NASA APOD:
https://www.astrobin.com/lg85ah/?nc=user
I've always loved dark nebulae but the thing that stood out to me is his Bortle 5 skies, same as mine. I've had limited success with dark nebulae partially because I haven't invested 15 hours like this gent. Recently I broke a personal record with 11.6 hours devoted to M81 so it is not out of the question to go even longer for LDN 1251. I just want some reasonable assurance of success. That was the purpose of this short imaging run on Pier 4: to get a sense of how difficult this target is. I am happy that I picked up the "smokey" parts of the nebula but I am still not convinced that I can achieve anything outstanding at home here under my Bortle 5 skies.
Brian
Brian we have bortle 2 skies in Spain and dark nebulae are still a difficult long winded project. We are in the process of doing a few in cepheus at the moment I think the integration times on piers 4 & 5 will be around 5 hours so lets wait and see 
I am interested to see how much data we get in such a short amount of time!
I am interested to see how much data we get in such a short amount of time!
Please ignore my dylexia wherever possible, just be thankful I can control my Tourettes ;)
Things to do, so little time!
Steve
Roboscopes Tea Boy
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Brain
You are right there - I love those parts of nebulae too! Nice one...
Regards
Mark
You are right there - I love those parts of nebulae too! Nice one...
Regards
Mark
Thanks, gentlemen.
Pier 4 is great for wide field but I think in this particular case I am cropping out a lot in order to concentrate on this nebula. One of the other piers would be better suited at the cost of longer integration times.
I remain cautiously optimistic that this is a Bortle 5 target but I am a little suspicious when I compare the abundance of 17th magnitude stars in this Pier 4 image with what I can capture here in New York. My friend in the UK invested 2.5 hours using an OSC and similar scope at Bortle 6. Just about all you can see is the dark void of stars where the nebula obscures starlight. No smokiness. The APOD's author says the key was lots of luminance (over 9 hours) and fancy post-processing. I am still not convinced that this is worth 20+ hours of my time. Another thing going against me is my relatively narrow FOV which makes framing a challenge. With this nebula I think you need to be on the wide-side so that you can see clear separation between the nebula and dark space.
I have a list of other targets that are beyond my means here.
Thanks again for your help!
Brian
Pier 4 is great for wide field but I think in this particular case I am cropping out a lot in order to concentrate on this nebula. One of the other piers would be better suited at the cost of longer integration times.
I remain cautiously optimistic that this is a Bortle 5 target but I am a little suspicious when I compare the abundance of 17th magnitude stars in this Pier 4 image with what I can capture here in New York. My friend in the UK invested 2.5 hours using an OSC and similar scope at Bortle 6. Just about all you can see is the dark void of stars where the nebula obscures starlight. No smokiness. The APOD's author says the key was lots of luminance (over 9 hours) and fancy post-processing. I am still not convinced that this is worth 20+ hours of my time. Another thing going against me is my relatively narrow FOV which makes framing a challenge. With this nebula I think you need to be on the wide-side so that you can see clear separation between the nebula and dark space.
I have a list of other targets that are beyond my means here.
Thanks again for your help!
Brian
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Hello Brian,
That's yet another striking object that I've not come across before. Having now looked at a few images including I believe the one you refer to, it is a really splendid subject. Despite the fact that your image is 1/15th of the time it is certainly close to being readily identifiable. Difficult to know whether an extra hour or two might bring it out more, so will be interesting to see what Steve and Peter can get with several hours imaging on similar objects. You appear to like a challenge and I wish you well when you attempt it yourself.
Best regards,
Ray
That's yet another striking object that I've not come across before. Having now looked at a few images including I believe the one you refer to, it is a really splendid subject. Despite the fact that your image is 1/15th of the time it is certainly close to being readily identifiable. Difficult to know whether an extra hour or two might bring it out more, so will be interesting to see what Steve and Peter can get with several hours imaging on similar objects. You appear to like a challenge and I wish you well when you attempt it yourself.
Best regards,
Ray
Ray
Roboscopes Guinea Pig
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Brian,
Found your posting. Most impressive - good to have you onboard.
Take care.
Simon
Found your posting. Most impressive - good to have you onboard.
Take care.
Simon
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