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Dragon Nebula through Hydrogen filter

The Dragon Nebula as seen through the specialized Hydrogen wavelength filter used for this project. Prior to processing, this filter is used to capture specific...
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The Dragon Nebula as seen through the specialized Hydrogen wavelength filter used for this project. Prior to processing, this filter is used to capture specific Hydrogen emissions in a very narrow wavelength. This results in some very structured details in the resulting black and white photo. I decided to process this image alongside the colorized version as its beautiful on its own.
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Milton, Kentucky, US

upload_date

Sep, 2023

Views

154

Awards

Top Pick 2023

Behind The Lens

Location

The final photo is a composite taken over a series of 17 nights from May through July of 2023 in Milton, KY.

Time

As this is astrophotography, the entire project was photographed throughout the night.

Lighting

While this photography may appear to be a black and white shot, what you are actually seeing has been shot through a specialized filter designed to highlight Hydrogen wavelengths, specifically Hydrogen-Alpha wavelengths at appx. 650nm. This enhanced view brings out not only the contrast in these gas clouds but also adds certain details that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.

Equipment

Taken through a William Optic GranTurismo 81mm telescope with a ZWO ASI533MC-Pro cooled astrocamera.

Inspiration

The Dragon presented a unique challenge over the summer since it is an extremely faint nebula even under the best of dark skies. It is easily the faintest object that I have ever photographed. Going into this attempt, I knew that I was going to need an extreme amount of time and good weather to be able to get a clear image. The end result is some 64 hours of exposures over 17 nights of shooting.

Editing

All of my astrophotos are processed in Pixinsight, requiring background extractions to remove gradients, color calibrations, dynamic alignments and contrast enhancements. The background stars are processed separately, then recombined with the nebula picture to bring out the best in both subjects in both the Hydrogen wavelengths and then in the color version of the photo.

In my camera bag

Its all on a equatorial mount designed to guide the telescope through the entire photo session

Feedback

Astrophotography has an extremely high learning curve, but with some patience it does not have to be intimidating. There is a wealth of information out there between what you can find on the web, getting in touch with fellow astrophotographers, forums, astronomy clubs. Don't be afraind to reach out and make contact with us!!! We were all beginners at one point.

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scottlord

scottlord

Dragon Nebula through Hydrogen filter

The Dragon Nebula as seen through the specialized Hydrogen wavelength filter used for this project. Prior to processing, this filter is used to capture specific... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow scottlord

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The Dragon Nebula as seen through the specialized Hydrogen wavelength filter used for this project. Prior to processing, this filter is used to capture specific...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.