IC1396: A Glimpse of the Elephant's Trunk

Behold the majestic beauty of IC1396, specifically a striking crop of its renowned Elephant's Trunk nebula. This image, brought to life through meticulous astrophotography, offers a detailed view of this iconic celestial formation.

The Journey to Capture This Celestial Wonder

The creation of this image involved a dedicated and precise workflow, utilizing specialized equipment and software:

Imaging Setup:

• Telescope: Askar V with an 80mm reducer (384mm focal length).
• Camera: Ogma AP26CC (IMX571 sensor).
• Filters: Antlia Triband filters were used to isolate specific wavelengths of light.

Guiding System:

• Guide Scope: Skywatcher Evoguide 50DX.
• Guide Camera: Player One Uranus C.
• Filter: UV-IR Cut filter to prevent atmospheric distortions.

Mount:

• Mount: Skywatcher Wave 100i, providing stable tracking for long exposures.

Software Suite:

• Acquisition: Green Swamp Server, ASCOM, and NINA were employed for capturing the data.
• Guiding: PHD2 was used for precise guiding throughout the imaging sessions.

Acquisition Details:

This image is the result of a significant investment of time and effort:

• Total Exposure: 549 frames, each at 240 seconds, totaling an impressive 36 hours and 36 minutes of exposure time.
• Calibration Frames: 15 Darks, 50 Dark Flats (Bias frames), and 50 Flats were acquired to calibrate the raw data and remove noise and artifacts.

Processing Workflow:

The raw data underwent a rigorous processing pipeline to reveal the intricate details of the nebula:

1. Stacking: Performed using Siril to combine all the individual sub-exposures into a single, high-quality image.
2. Processing: Further refinement was carried out in Siril and ON1 Raw MAx 2025, bringing out the colors and structures within the nebula.
3. Upscaling: The image was enlarged by a factor of 2 using Seti Astro Suite.
4. Cropping & Resizing: The final crop focused on the distinct Elephant's Trunk formation, and the image was resized in Siril to 25% of its upscaled dimensions.

This process highlights the dedication and technical skill involved in capturing and processing deep-sky objects, allowing us to share the wonders of the universe.