David Jenkins’ beautifully rendered blue reflection nebulae (vdB149 and vdB150) win Photo of the Week for the period of November 12-18, 2022.
Jenkins’ described his photo of vdB149 and vdB150 as blue reflection nebulae immersed in a dark nebula’s expanse of reddish-brown dust.
The photo was taken on October 15, 2022 in Ayr, Ontario. Judges said that, overall, the image is well done and the blue reflection nebula stands out nicely.
“[There is] some very nice detail and colour in the dark dust areas, [and the] beautifully rendered blue reflection elements contrast nicely with the dark dust,” they said.
The resulting image comes thanks in part to 17 hours of LRGB (Luminance, Red, Green and Blue) data, and Esprit 150ED, ASIAIR, ASI2600MM, and EQ8-Rh Pro equipment — along with Astronomik L-RGB filters, and 120 and 180 second subs under Bortle 5 skies.
Honourable mention
Dave Robitaille’s barred spiral galaxy in LHaRGB gets an honourable mention. His image of the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, benefits from good detail in the core and spiral arms.
“The red Ha star-forming areas are nicely rendered and contrast nicely against the galaxy,” said the judges.
Robitailler described the image as “A long project this fall, taken over many nights and days of processing.”
The image was taken on November 1, 2022 in Saint-René-de-Matane, Québec, over a period of four hours, with the help of an ASI2600MC Pro, Celestron RASA 11, and a 620 mm at f/2.2.
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