Nova Cas 2021

Nova Cas 2021 / V1405 Cas in Cassoiopeia, imaged from a light polluted city

NOVA CAS 2021

V1405 Cas • Classical nova • Cassiopeia • 5500 light-years from Earth


🗓️
March 2021

Overview

Nova Cassiopeiae 2021 was discovered just two days before this image was captured. The outburst occurred around 5500 light years from Earth and involved a white dwarf star drawing material from a nearby companion. As gas built up on the white dwarf’s surface, rising temperature and pressure triggered a thermonuclear explosion, causing the system to brighten dramatically. The sudden increase in light seen here marks the moment that eruption became visible from Earth.

Background

The night sky may seem eternal and never-changing, but ask any Ancient Greek and they’d tell you that’s not the case. In March 2021 a nova star was detected, and word quickly spread around the astronomical community. It was fairly bright, especially so soon after being detected, so well within my the limits of my telescope and camera. The weather was fairly grotty but there was a short enough break in the clouds to quickly gather some subs. It took a bit of work and staring at star charts to actually identify the nova within the initial wide field of view — check out the example data below and you’ll see what I mean!

Nova Cas 2021 / V1405 Cas in Cassoiopeia, imaged from a light polluted city
Framed astrophoto taken from a light-polluted city, available to buy as a fine art print

Imaging details

Date

20 March 2021

Location

Bristol, UK (Bortle 8)

Telescope

Askar FRA400

Camera

ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro

Mount

Orion Sirius EQ-G

Guiding

WO 32mm + ZWO ASI 120MM Mini

Control

ASIAIR

Software

PixInsight, Lightroom

Image by

Lee Pullen

Filter

Channels

Exposure

No filter

RGB

15 × 2-minutes

30 minites

Imaging details

Date
20 March 2021

Location
Bristol, UK (Bortle 8)

Telescope
Askar FRA400

Camera
ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro

Mount
Orion Sirius EQ-G

Guiding
WO 32mm + ZWO ASI 120MM Mini

Control
ASIAIR

Software
PixInsight, Lightroom

Image by
Lee Pullen

Filters

No filter
RGB
15 × 2-minutes

Total exposure: 30 minutes

Kit list

This is the equipment I used to capture the image.
Affiliate links help support the site at no extra cost to you.

Guidescope: William Optics 32mm Slide-Base Uniguide
Read my review
Buy from Astroshop.eu
Buy from High Point Scientific

Example astrophotography image promoting one-to-one online astrophotography masterclasses

Example source data

Here’s an example single subframe and freshly integrated stack, just with simple stretches applied.






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