IC417 NGC 1931 the Spider and the Fly in Auriga

[Bob Star]

Hey Guys!!

Had some good conditions on Monday night and decided to try a target a little off the beaten path, at least for my DSLR! Spent most of the night imaging this pair and man it was cold! Wound up with about 7 hours worth of 600 second 1600iso subs with the NP101. After starting to process this image I found out why it's called the Spider and the Fly, the entire area is filled with a web of nebulosity. Even the area around M36 is involved (yep, that open cluster is M36!). I was very fortunate that the temperature was so cold that night otherwise most of the faint nebulosity would have been lost in the noise. I was real happy to catch some of the small dark nebulae immediately surrounding IC417, they're pretty elusive!

The Spider and the Fly area

Thanks for looking
Bob

[Les (t_total123)]

Nice start Bob looks great

Les

[Bob Star]

Thanks Les! I tried adding some color subs to it and didn't get much improvement. Not sure if I'm going to try adding more or move on.

Bob

[El Paso Eric]

Definitely deep.  You're venturing into CCD territory with that DSLR.  I would say that you should move to a CCD, but what for?  Your images are better than 99% of CCD images I've seen. 

[schmeah]

  I would say that you should move to a CCD, but what for?  Your images are better than 99% of CCD images I've seen. 

Because then his images would be better than 100% of CCD images we've seen ...

[BillA.]

Another Rocking image Bob!!!  You are DSLR wizard!!!!

My guess is that, at 600sec @ ISO 1600, that histogram was moved pretty far to the right at f 4.5!!!!

Bob, Do you have the IS version of the NP101 or the regular version?

I am looking at the either a used NP101 or new SV105.  But the SV105 is limited to f7 considering that there
is no proven focal reducer for it at this point to take it below f7.  (Maybe the Riccardi reducer sold by APM for $700, but I have yet to
see someone use the APM reducer with the SV105).    Anyway, my concern is that the SV105 just will not grab enough
light at F7 for my DSLR vs. the NP101.   Still, I would probably prefer the SV105 for general observing.

Bill

[Jason C]

very cool field, don't think I've seen this one. I havent looked for other images of this area, but just by looking at yours I can see that it's a very faint area. Nice job with processing that faint signal

[David (djrLX90)]

Excellent work Bob!!!!  Very deep and detailed.  I imaged the Spider and the Fly with the H9 and the FS102 just after I got it...much narrower field.  I put nowhere as much time in as Bob did, now I wish I had !!!!  Another masterpiece!!!!!

[Bob Star]

Thanks a lot guys!!! 

Definitely deep.  You're venturing into CCD territory with that DSLR

Eric I've had the T1i for a year and a half now and still feel that it has more to give!

Another Rocking image Bob!!!  You are DSLR wizard!!!!

My guess is that, at 600sec @ ISO 1600, that histogram was moved pretty far to the right at f 4.5!!!!

Bob, Do you have the IS version of the NP101 or the regular version?

I am looking at the either a used NP101 or new SV105.  But the SV105 is limited to f7 considering that there
is no proven focal reducer for it at this point to take it below f7.  (Maybe the Riccardi reducer sold by APM for $700, but I have yet to
see someone use the APM reducer with the SV105).    Anyway, my concern is that the SV105 just will not grab enough
light at F7 for my DSLR vs. the NP101.   Still, I would probably prefer the SV105 for general observing.

Bill, the histogram is actually quite low, peaking at about 10%. Ha is pretty darn faint and benefits from long exposure times.
I have the standard NP101 but would opt for the IS version if I had a chance. The IS has a larger diameter focuser and rear optical element which reduces vignetting. Mine vignettes pretty bad. The IS rear optical cell is also adjustable for perfect collimation of all 4 elements. Mine has a fixed cell and only the objective can be adjusted. The SV 105 is an awesome scope and I'm sure there is a FR out there that will make it purr for imaging!!

I havent looked for other images of this area, but just by looking at yours I can see that it's a very faint area.

Jay, it is a pretty dim target. I had to do a double take when processing the image. I've never seen nebulosity around M36 before.

I imaged the Spider and the Fly with the H9 and the FS102 just after I got it...much narrower field

I remember that image David...it was VERY good!!!


Bob

[Craig & Tammy]

Looks great Bob!!  That T1i is a great camera - very low noise!

You said you added a little color but didn't see much improvement?

[Bob Star]

Thanks C&T 

You said you added a little color but didn't see much improvement?

I set up last week with the intentions of capturing 5+ hours of data with the CLS-CCD to add to the Ha data. What I wound up with was 2 hours of poor data taken through thin clouds. I gave it a try but it pulled the quality of the whole stack down. Going to give it another shot under better conditions...I hope.

Bob