M76 (Little Dumbbell) in Perseus

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Scope: C8 203mm  at f/7.3,  Location: Dos Picos Park, Ramona, CA  19 October,  2007,   Camera: Artemis285

Exposure: 5 x 10 min H-Alpha (1x1), 8 x 5 min IR/UV Block (1x1), 6 x 2 min RGB Exposures (2x2). 

Processing: Images were captured  with Artemis Capture (as FITs).  Aligned/stacked and dark subtracted in Astroart with Sigma Combine. Central gradient removal was performed in Astroart.   H-Alpha  and Color channels were scaled and  color balanced in Astroart.  Channels were co-registered in Astroart.  Luminance construction consisted of the IR/UV Block exposure Blended with the H-Alpha exposures.  Curves and Levels applied in Photoshop to the Luminance construction to optimize object features.  Final LRGB combine was done in Photoshop using Luminance Layering (or LLRGB) in LAB Color Space. Selective sharpening was applied to nebula features in Photoshop with a layer mask.  Final Image size is approximately 1044x1392

 North is up in this image. M76 is a planetary nebula (death remnants of a low mass star) in the constellation of  Perseus. Its distance is poorly known with estimates between 1,700 and 15,000 light years. This image replaces and earlier image that can be seen here. The Horizontal FOV is 20'.

Image center is located approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 01h 42m 18s Dec: +51°34'17"

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2012

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