Tadpole (IC410) and Flaming Star (IC405) Nebulae

This widefield narrowband Ha-OIII bicolour composite image shows the Tadpole and Flaming Star nebulae in the constellation of Auriga. The Flaming Star nebula (bottom centre) appears as a corrugated cloud of glowing hydrogen gas that is energised by the hot O-type star AE Aurigae. The nebula lies about 1,500 light years distant and spans about 5 light years. IC 410 (top left) is significantly more distant, some 12,000 light-years away. The star forming region is famous for its embedded young star cluster, NGC 1893, and tadpole-shaped clouds of dust and gas. The radiation from these hot young stars pushes the gas away from them and creates the darker hole like features just below the star cluster.

The limited number of sub-images available to create this image has severely limited its quality and definition. I plan to revisit this area during the winter of 2017 with a new wideband dual telescope rig to capture more data that will enable a more refined image to be presented.

Right ascension: 05h 19m 23.53s | Declination: +33° 59' 11.8" | Distance: 12,000 Light Years (IC410)
Field of view: 234 x 176 arcmin

Camera: QSI 583wsg
Optics: TS Photoline TS60ED F/4.3 APO with Photoline x0.79 reducer
Guiding: Off-axis with Lodestar guider
Filters: Baader Ha (7nm), OIII (8.5nm)
Exposures: Ha 13 x 20 min, OIII 19 x 20min
Total exposure: 10.6 hours
Image composition: Ha-OIII bicolour composite
Scale: 4.2 arcsec/pixel
Image acquired: Over five nights between 7th January 2016 and 13th March 2016.

Image capture with MaxIm DL, FocusMax, ACP; Image reduction with MaxIm DL; Image processing with PixInsight and Photoshop CC 2017