IC 1396 Mosaic Trunk Nebula + Mirko Tondinelli + L-UItimate

IC 1396 Mosaic Trunk Nebula

Credit: Mirko Tondinelli (Italy)

Filter: Optolong L-UItimate filter

 

 

IC 1396 is a very sparse open cluster associated with a large diffuse nebula, visible in the boreal constellation of Cepheus; it is located in a stretch of the Milky Way partially obscured by dense banks of dark nebulae, in a galactic region rich in dust and neutral gas with associated young and hot blue stars.  Its position is easily identifiable, immediately south of the star μ Cephei, one of the reddest stars known; However, identifying the cluster itself is not easy, because it is very dispersed and almost blends in with the surrounding star field. What appears clearly evident in long-exposure photos taken through a telescope is the large nebulous complex surrounding the cluster; its appearance is roughly circular and crossed by numerous dark spots, which upon closer inspection reveal themselves to be Bok globules, i.e. particularly concentrated regions of the nebula where the formation of new stars occurs. It is therefore an H II region, and is part of a vast system of molecular clouds and OB associations called the Cepheus Nebular Complex.  To create this mosaic of two panels I did 4 shooting sessions where every evening I integrated half the time on one panel and half the time on the other panel in order to obtain roughly the same type of gradient every evening.  

 

 

 

►Equipment
Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses: Tecnosky 90/540 FPL55 OWL
Imaging Cameras: Omegon veTEC 571 C
Mounts: Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro
Filters: Optolong L-Ultimate 2"

►Accessories
Tecnosky Flattener 1x Full Frame for 115/800
Software
AstroSharp Ltd SharpCap · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
Guiding Telescopes Or Lenses
Artesky Ultraguide 60
Guiding Cameras
ZWO ASI224MC

►Acquisition details
Dates: June 27 - 29, 2024
July 1, 2024
Frames:
Optolong L-Ultimate 2": 162×300″(13h 30′) ISO250 (gain: 100.00) bin 1×1
Optolong L-Ultimate 2": 51×300″(4h 15′) ISO2501 (gain: 100.00) bin 1×1
Integration:17h 45′
Darks:40
Flats:40
Flat darks:40
Avg. Moon age: 22.50 days
Avg. Moon phase: 46.58%
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 6.00
Temperature: 22.5°C
RA center: 21h39m46s.33
DEC center: +57°38′44″.4
Pixel scale: 1.142 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: 89.952 degrees
Field radius: 1.827 degrees
WCS transformation: thin plate spline 
Resolution: 7466x8786
File size: 35.7 MB
Locations: Terrazzo casa, Guidonia Montecelio, Roma, Italy
Data source: Backyard