Sh2-240 in Ha - Astrophotogallery

This object proved to be a lot tougher than we first thought. Although we managed to get 6 hours of integration time, the object has such a low surface brightness that we had to stretch the image very hard just to get it to come out. This resulted in a much noisier image than we would like, but we're glad to have it to add to our collection.

Sh2-240 is an extremely faint supernova remnant in Taurus. It spans almost 3 degrees (6 full moons) and is estimated to be about 3000 light-years away. The 100,000 year old catastrophic explosion left behind a spinning neutron star or pulsar (unseen in this image).

Lens: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L USM II
Accessories: N/A
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G controlled by EQMOD
Guiding: Orion StarShoot AutoGuider on Orion 80ED
Camera(s): Self-modified Canon Digital Rebel XT; Canon Digital Rebel T1i, Hap Griffin Baader modified
Filters: Astronomik 6nm H-Alpha EOS Clip
Exposure: 12 x 900sec @ ISO 1600 (at f/3.2); 18 x 600sec @ ISO 1600 (at f/4)
Acquisition: ImagesPlus 3.75 Camera Control; ImagesPlus 3.80b Camera Control
Processing: ImagesPlus 3.80a – Calibrated, registered, stacked, DDP
Post-processing: Adobe Photoshop CS4; Gradient XTerminator; Noise Ninja
Date(s): November 28, 2009; December 5, 2009
Temperature(s): 53ºF, 29ºF, respectively
Location: Hendersonville, TN