M81 Group and Integrated Flux Nebula

18:03 12/3/2010 UTC

Most of the Nebulae are illuminated by only one or just few stars. Integrated Flux Nebula is a large complex of dust in high galactic latitudes which is illuminanted by all the stars in our galaxy. This elusive nebula is very difficult target as its light is broad spectrum and needs to be shot with broadand filter like luminance. For that reason the darker the background sky the better the chances of success. I was in a star party in Artjärvi observatory where the sky is very dark. Luckily the sky was clear part of the night and I could collect three hours worth of data. IFN was barely there but I definitely caught it! This is a luminance only image, I will add color data later when I get my LRGB filter set.

Camera: Atik Instruments 4000LE | Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 Pro 80mm f7.5 refractor, William Optics 0.8x focal reducer | Mount: Vixen GP-D2, Boxdoerfer PowerFlex MTS-3SLP drive controller | Filters: Baader IR/UV block | Guiding: The Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS CCD camera, Orion ShortTube 80mm f5 refractor, Stark-Labs PHD Guiding | Exposure: L 18x600s (3h) unbinned, CCD @ -25° f6 | Software: CCDWare CCDStack, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Stark-Labs Nebulosity 2 | Location: 60°44'00"N 26°12'46"E (Tähtikallio Observatory/Artjärvi, FI) | Image Field: 1.809 x 1.808 degrees | Image Center: Ra 09h56m32s Dec +69°20'34" |