2nd Attempt Horsehead and Flame Mosaic

[BlackWikkett]

Anyone that's imaged around the Flame and Horsehead nebula region has to contend with the blue giant Alnitak. This bright star causes intense reflections in my gear and has always brought otherwise decent images down a notch or two due to these reflections. I'm sure i could try to get a better optical alignment in my gear but trying to maintain that in a $400 telescope is probably a futile effort. I'd much rather be spending time actually getting the images.

The reflection that I get was a giant circular lens flare and what looks like the secondary and supporting spider shadow in the reflection. To get around this my last attempt at this object was to center the Flame nebula panel on Alnitak. This minimized the reflection very well but it was still visible. For this mosaic the center of the image was about 1.5 Alnitak diameters right of center in the individual panel that contains the star and the Flame. This framing seems to remove the reflection entirely for my gear.

This process may be something to consider if you're having reflections. Two separate panels and the final image below, follow links to flickr for more information on images

Equipment:
RC 6 with Astro-Physics CCDT67 reducer. This steps down from f/8 1300 mm to f/6.7 1032 mm
IDAS D1 LPS filter
ZWO ASI294 MC Pro -10c exposures 30 seconds at 300 gain 10 brightness
Using master flat and dark
SharpCap v3.2.6128 Live Stacking
iOptron CEM60 mount
Stellarvue 50mm Guide Scope with ZWO ASI290 MM guide camera
Microsoft ICE to create mosaic


NGC2024 PS Edit 12-18 Stack_60frames_1800s_WithDisplayStretch by Black Wikkett, on Flickr

B33 PS Edit Stack_171frames_4666s_WithDisplayStretch by Black Wikkett, on Flickr

B33 & NGC2024 Mosaic 12-19 by Black Wikkett, on Flickr

Thanks for having a look, Chris

[turfpit]

Chris

An excellent capture and processing.

Dave

[nexusjeep]

Chris,
Nice shot of a target that I never appear to get round to shooting as I always get distracted by M42/43 I am planning to have ago at it one day if I ever get to see the sky again, and have a similar issue to you although mine is caused by the ASI1600 cell not having anti reflection coatings so Alnitak really goes for it in my setup especially with OIII but I have recently changed to Astronomik 6nm filters so will be interested to see if they improve the situation. Keep the great images coming as it gives me something to look at even if I cant personally see the sky and stars.

Cheers
Nick