2020.11.01 – North America Nebula
Gear
- Telescope – Meades 70mm Series 6000 Refractor
- Main Camera – ZWO ASI294MC Pro
- Filter – Optolong 2″ L-Enhance
- Mount – HEQ5
- Guide Scope – ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope
- Guide Camera – ZWO ASI290MM
- Controller – ZWO ASIAir Pro
Acquisition
- 29 Light Images at 300 gain, 180s exposure
- 32 Dark Images
- 400 Bias Images
- No Flats
North America Nebula, AKA NGC7000, AKA Caldwell 20. This is 2,202 light years away.
This is the second shot I have taken using the Optolong L-Enhance filter. They really are needed for astrophotography. Capturing nebulas require a proper filter to capture.
One thing I’ve noticed with this photo and the California Nebula. The red level is much higher over the green and blue. Without the filter green level was more amped up in my captured images. I hear that is the case with the ZSO ASI294MC Pro in general. Red is such a strong color I just hope all my nebula photos do not end up with a red-like filter over them.
Overall, I really like how this one has turned out. The nebula’s shape really does come through and you can see the North America shape. Also, the background of infinite space and stars look smooth and consistent to me. I do wish I minimized the stars a bit more, especially on the left region area. I may revisit at some point. Other than that I really like how everything came out.
The essence of existence is like smoke, always shifting, always changing, yet somehow always present. It moves with the wind of thought, expanding and contracting, never quite settling but never truly disappearing. Perhaps to exist is simply to flow, to let oneself be carried by the great current of being without resistance.
Man is said to seek happiness above all else, but what if true happiness comes only when we stop searching for it? It is like trying to catch the wind with our hands—the harder we try, the more it slips through our fingers. Perhaps happiness is not a destination but a state of allowing, of surrendering to the present and realizing that we already have everything we need.