Overview
Officially known as Sh2-132, The Lion Nebula is around 10,000 light-years from Earth. Energetic stars are bombarding the surrounding gas with ultraviolet radiation, causing it to glow.
Background
At 28 hours, this was my longest integration at the time. It was needed to bring out the faint nebulosity.
Scroll down for the source data and you’ll see that the nebula is barely visible in a single stretched sub, and even the integrated image is underwhelming. The noise level made it tough to process, but I was able to bring out some nice colours.
It’s a bit mad to image the Lion Nebula with an OSC camera from a city, but I like showing that it’s at least possible!
Imaging details
| Date | October & November 2021 |
| Location | Bristol, UK (Bortle 8) |
| Telescope | Askar FRA400 f/5.6 Quintuplet APO Astrograph |
| Camera | ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO |
| Mount | Orion Sirius EQ-G |
| Guide | William Optics 32mm; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini |
| Control | ASIAIR Plus |
| Software | PixInsight, Lightroom |
| Filters | Optolong L-eXtreme (Ha/OIII): 840 x 120 seconds |
| Total exposure time | 28 hours |
| Image credit | Lee Pullen |
Source data
Seestar S50
Seestar S50 image coming later…
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