ROAST ::

July 30. A nice clear night, so a couple of scheduled shoots.

First up is IC 63, aka the Ghost Nebula, in Cassiopeia:

The bright star is Gamma Cassiopeia, the central star in the constellation’s distinctive W shape.

This image is a bit of an experiment. It’s a very faint nebula with both emission and reflection areas, so I’ve fiddled with the colour balance somewhat to try to bring out the bluish reflection areas. I also gaussian-blurred the nebulosity slightly, which reduces the noise a bit at the cost of resolution.

Details:
Target: IC 63 (Ghost Nebula)
Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band filter, perfect EQ
Time: 2026-07-30 22:47..01:28
Integration: 2hrs 19mins (139×60secs, +8 failures), gain 60
Conditions: Very clear, slight wind, Bortle 6
Processing: PhotoDesk gamma, equalisation, colour balance, gaussian blur

Next was another go at the Bubble Nebula. This is a mega-stack of three different shoots:

Compare with my previous attempt. Lots more detail in the surrounding nebula, but the Bubble itself remains elusive.

Details:
Target: C 11 (Bubble Nebula)
Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band filter, perfect EQ
Mega-stack, 3 sessions:
Session 1: 2026-07-10 01:09..03:03; 1hr 37mins, 195×30secs, gain 60
Session 2: 2026-07-10 23:03..03:13; 3hrs 46mins, 226×60secs, gain 70
Session 3: 2026-07-30 01:38..04:19; 2hrs 19mins, 93×90secs, gain 80
Total integration: 7hrs 42mins
Conditions (3): Very clear, slight wind, Bortle 6
Processing: PhotoDesk gamma, equalisation

And so to bed…