The Horse, the Snake, and the Ink spot
Image Details:
This is an area of sky near the plane of the Milky Way featuring several strings of dark nebula amidst a rich field of yellow starlight and dust reflecting the same. As the Milky Way’s brightest region is located to the South from the latitude 37N, it can be difficult to gather large amounts of data on it since it sets so quickly - the total exposure here is under 10 hours, yet it required 4 nights, or over twice that total, to capture.
Equipment:
William Optics Star71-II Petzval APO (345mm Focal Length, F/4.9)
ZWO ASI1600MM-P, ZWO Filters
Hypertuned Celestron CGEM-II
Autoguiding: Orion 50mm Guidescope + ZWO ASI224MC
Exposures:
Luminance: 136 x 120” (Total: 4h 32m)
Red, Green, Blue: 52, 52, 52 x 120” (Total: 5h 12m)
Misc Details:
Capture Software: AstrophotographyTool, PHD2 (guiding), Celestron CPWI (mount control), Pegasus Powerbox (dew heater control, power management)
Processing Software: PixInsight
Taken from: Wichita, KS, Bortle 4
Capture Dates: 12-15 June, 2021