Technical Information:
(HaC)RGB: This is a mosaic of two panels, each panel consisting of data from 420 minutes of Ha (fourteen 30-minute images), 150 minutes of unfiltered data (ten 15-minute images) and 75 minutes each of R, G and B (five 15-minute images of each), for a total exposure time for the two panels combined of 1590 minutes (26.5 hours). The luminance layer is 65% clear channel data, and 35% Ha data. The red channel is a blend of about 75% Ha data and 25% red-filtered data.
Equipment: AP130 f/6 Starfire, SBIG ST-10XME with CFW8 (Astrodon filter set), on a Bisque Paramount ME German Equatorial Mount.
Image Acquisition/Camera Control: CCDSoft v5, controlled with CCDAutoPilot3, and working in concert with TheSky v6.
Processing: All images calibrated (darks and dawn flats) in CCDSoft, debloomed in Rod Wodaski's debloomer, data-rejected and combined in CCDStack, and deconvolved in CCDStack. The two panes of each channel were aligned, normalized and stitched together in CCDStack, and color combine and finish work was done in Photoshop CS2.
Location: Data acquired remotely from the Tejas Observatory, located on the grounds of New Mexico Skies, near Mayhill, NM (elevation 7300 feet).
Date: Ha images taken on the nights of December 27, 28 and 31, 2006, and January 11, 2007. Clear filtered images January 13 and 26, 2007. Red images January 10, 11, 24 and 25, 2007. Green images January 26, 2007. Blue images December 28, 2006 and January 24, 2007.
Pixel scale: 1.67 arcseconds per pixel.
CCD Chip temperature: -25C
Seeing: Generally good.
Transparency: Varied by night.
Moon Phase: Close to full for most of the Ha images. Varied from little moon to large gibbous for the other images.