A 152h Deep Exploration of the Carina Nebula and its Surroundings in High Resolution

Image Title: A 152h Deep Exploration of the Carina Nebula and its Surroundings in High Resolution

Copyright: Steeve Body Logan Carpenter and Ken Hall

Date image was taken: February 28, 2024

Location: Bentleigh (VIC, Australia), Auckland (NZ) and Perth (WA, Australia)

Image Description and Details: Frames:
Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm: 120×600″(20h) (gain: 100.00) f/7.5 -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm: 45×600″(7h 30′) (gain: 139.00) f/7 -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 36 mm: 281×600″(46h 50′) (gain: 100.00) f/7.5 -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 36 mm: 45×600″(7h 30′) (gain: 139.00) f/7 -10°C
Astronomik H-alpha CCD MaxFR 6nm 2": 95×600″(15h 50′) (gain: 100.00) f/2 -10°C
Optolong L-eXtreme 2": 294×600″(49h) (gain: 100.00) f/4.9 -10°C bin 1×1
ZWO UV IR CUT 2": 321×60″(5h 21′) (gain: 100.00) f/4.9 -10°C bin 1×1

Integration:
152h 1′

Description:
The aim of this project was to craft a comprehensive view of the Carina Nebula area, spotlighting the faint SNRs in its vicinity.

Thanks to a collaborative effort with my colleagues from the New Horizon (NHZ) imaging group, we've merged our talents to present this image, a fusion of data from four different telescopes and focal lengths.

Explore the Hi Res: https://steevebody.com/portfolio/the-carina-nebula-and-surroundings/

For those keen to explore this image in its full glory with a resolution of 17970 × 13332 , visit my website.

Photographers:

Logan Carpenter
Ken Hall
Steeve Body

Processing:

Steeve Body

A hefty total of 152 hours of exposure was used to make this image.

The foundational images were captured using a Redcat 51 and a 6200mc, accumulating about 54 hours of data over two panels. Logan then created a 4-panel mosaic focusing on the Southern Witch's Broom SNR with his Askar 65PHQ. Meanwhile, Ken dedicated around 15 hours to Ha imaging to the right of the Banana Nebula with his RASA 11, an area we've been scrutinising with NHZ for potential SNR indicators. Notably in this region you can observe some distinct Ha filamentary structures. Additionally, I contributed a 2-panel mosaic of the Banana Nebula for enhanced detail in this region.

Special thanks to @John Dziuba for lending me his 6200mc, pairing perfectly with my Redcat while I anticipate acquiring a mono camera for this setup at some point.

The 6200MC data went through a 2x drizzling process during stacking, to a resolution of approximately 19000x19000 for the 2 panel mosaic. This step was crucial for extracting maximum detail and integrating Logan's and Ken's contributions without compromising on clarity.

The final image ended up being cropped in landscape as I felt it presented better this way.

I combined the various datasets by aligning Ken's and Logan's images to the wider field captures using star alignment in Pixinsight, then meticulously blending details into the respective colour channels.

Special Features:

1) The Southern Witch's Broom Nebula

Likely an SNR, with its filamentary structure, was recently captured by @Chester Hall-Fernandez and Logan at the end of 2023. Its rarity and the desire to contextualise it within its broader region motivated this focus. The Ha filaments near the Banana Nebula present a beautiful, albeit faint, structure with potential SNR qualities, though its origins remain uncertain.
2) The Filamentary Ha structure near the Banana Nebula that Ken captured. A very beautiful yet faint structure to the right of the Banana Nebula. It has some SNR characteristic but with uncertain origins at this stage.

Equipment Details: Imaging Telescopes:
Askar 107PHQ · Askar 65PHQ · Celestron RASA 11" V2 · William Optics Redcat 51

Imaging Cameras:
QHYCCD QHY600PH M · ZWO ASI1600MM Pro · ZWO ASI2600MM Pro · ZWO ASI6200MC Pro

Website or Facebook Profile: http://steevebody.com