IC 417 – The Spider Nebula
Description:
Here is the central portion of the Spider Nebula (IC 417) as my field of view is not wide enough to display the whole nebula. The blue region is an intense site of star formation. Its distance is estimated at 7,500 light-years. I used a series of narrow-band filters that reveal regions full of hydrogen-alpha, doubly ionized oxygen, and ionized sulphur.
Technical details:
Telescope: Celestron Edge HD14 with a 0.7x focal reducer
Mount: Paramount MX+
Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MM in bin 2×2 mode
Filters LRGB and narrowband filters (H-alpha, OIII and SII) from Baader
Exposures: Total of 7 hours with 6-minute shots in narrowband and 2-minute shots in LRGB colors. Processing with PixInsight where Sulphur II is assigned to the red channel, H-Alpha to the green, and Oxygen III to the blue channel.
Date: 3 nights in January and February 2025
Location: Backyard observatory in Sainte-Sophie, Qc
