IC 443 in Gemini

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Scope: ES MN152 152 mm  Mak-Newt  @  f/4.8, Dos Picos Park, Ramona, CA,   13 January 2011  Camera: ST8300M

Exposure:  4 x 10  min H-Alpha exposure (1x1),  10 x 10 min H-Alpha exposure (2x2), 7 x 4 min RGB exposures (2x2).

Processing: Images were captured with CCDSoft. Aligned/stacked and dark subtracted in Astroart ; Sigma Combine method was used for stacking subs.  All channels were scaled and rough color balanced in Astroart.  Central Gradient removal  was done in Astroart. Channels were co-registered in Astroart.   The 10 minute 1x1 bin H-Alpha  exposures and the 10 minute 2x2 bin H-Alpha exposures were combined  for the main luminance construction with level adjustments and curves to bring out object features.  LRGB combine was done in Photoshop. Saturation adjustments were selectively applied excluding the brighter areas. Bright area exclusion on some portions of Levels, Curves, and Saturation was to avoid core over brightening and out of Gamut.  A light background noise reduction was applied in PixInsight LE (SGBNR).   Selective sharpening was performed.. Final touches and color balance in Photoshop. Final Image size is approximately 3352x2532 (resized to 2400x1813).

All exposures in this image were guided; North is up in this image. IC443 is in the Constellation of Gemini. It is sometimes commonly called the "Jellyfish" Nebula because of its distinctive appearance. IC443 is a supernova remnant  whose effects are still seen (believed to be a type II supernova due to the presence of a neutron star in the area). The bright star on the right is Eta Geminorum; common name - Propus (meaning "forward foot" - presumably of one of the Gemini twins). IC 443 is estimated to be 5,000 light years distant from Earth. This image replaces an earlier image that can be seen in the Archives here. The Horizontal FOV is 88'.

Image center is located approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 06h 17m 46s Dec: +22°32'10"

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

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