Overview
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a dense region of gas and dust within the emission nebula IC 1396, located about 2400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus. Shaped by stellar winds and radiation from a nearby massive star, this dark, sinuous structure is a site of active star formation, with young, newly forming stars hidden within its clouds.
Background
It’s been a busy few months at the Urban Astrophotography HQ. I’ve upgraded a lot of my kit, and am now using an Askar 130PHQ Flatfield Astrograph (review here) mounted on a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R PRO, plus a William Optics 50mm Guidescope with 1.25″ RotoLock for guiding (review here).
Speaking of which, I recently bought an Optolong L-Ultimate dualband filter; then Askar sent me one of their newly-released Colour Magic 6nm dualband filters to review — read the review here. The tests meant I had a lot of data with these filters so decided to combine them into a “first light” image with my new telescope.
I’m happy with the result as it shows a level of detail I could never have obtained with my Askar FRA400 — scroll down to see some comparisons. The processing was tricky though, and I spent about two days trying out different versions until I settled on something I think does the source data justice. I like the colours but am not sure I could ever reproduce them!
This image featured in the December 2021 issue of Sky at Night Magazine:
Comparison with Askar FRA400
The picture below was taken last year with my Askar FRA400 (focal length 400mm). The black rectangle shows the field of view with my new Askar 130PHQ (focal length 1000mm).
Slide to compare a cropped view of my previous attempt (left) with the same view taken with my new equipment.
Imaging details
| Date | October 2022 |
| Location | Bristol, UK (Bortle 8) |
| Telescope | Askar 130PHQ Flatfield Astrograph |
| Camera | ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO |
| Mount | Sky-Watcher EQ6-R PRO |
| Guide | William Optics 50mm Guidescope with 1.25″ RotoLock; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini |
| Control | ASIAIR Plus |
| Software | PixInsight, Lightroom |
| Filters | – 330 x 120 seconds (Optolong L-Ultimate) – 330 x 120 seconds (Askar Colour Magic 6nm) |
| Total exposure time | 22 hours |
| Image credit | Lee Pullen |
Source data
Previous version
I first imaged the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula within IC1396 back in June 2021, using my wide-field Askar FRA400 telescope. Fun fact: this image convinced me that OSC cameras can now compete with Mono even from a city, and pushed me into making this website.
* May and June 2021
* Bristol, UK (Bortle 8)
* Telescope: Askar FRA400 f/5.6 Quintuplet APO Astrograph
* Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO
* Filter: Optolong L-eXtreme
* Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G
* Guide: William Optics 32mm; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
* Control: ASIAIR PRO
* Software: PixInsight, Photoshop, Lightroom, Topaz DeNoise AI
* 480 x 120 seconds
Total integration time: 16 hours
By Lee Pullen
Seestar S50
Seestar S50 image coming later…
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Amazingly beautiful – hard to believe it is from a OSC with rough city lights! Gratefully you aimed away from the lights your neighbors windows.
meant to say “the lights OF your neighbors windows.”
Luckily I don’t have any really bright lights aiming down into my garden, but the skyglow is extreme!
Amazingly beautiful – hard to believe it is from a OSC with rough city lights! Gratefully you aimed away from the lights of your neighbors windows.
Amazing the details and quality of each of your final images, you have great skills processing astrophotography!!
Thanks Denis, I’ve worked hard at improving my processing skills, particularly over the last year. Still lots to learn though!
Great image.
How does the Eq6r pro handle the 130 phq?
Does it clear the legs in declination? Thanks!
The EQ6R-Pro handles the weight of the 130PHQ just fine, thankfully! I have my mount on a concrete block pier. If you use tripod legs then the telescope will almost certainly collide with the legs when pointing near the zenith. A tripod extension to give the mount head some extra height would definitely help. A pier is the best solution though.
Thanks for the prompt answer.