Photo of the Week for March 24, 2017
As noted previously, the year-round accessibility of Cepheus for Canadian astrophotographers makes it a popular constellation despite having only a few celestial attractions. Fortunately, the dearth of deep-sky targets isn’t a serious limitation. Part of the appeal of modern astronomical imaging is that different equipment and processing choices often yield remarkably diverse results. Compare this image of Cepheus resident IC1396, by Frédéric Caron, with this one by Barry Schellenberg. You might have to look long and hard to convince yourself that they portray the same object, as the photos were taken at markedly different image scales and rendered with contrasting colour palettes.
Frédéric captured this view of IC1396 from Sainte-Christine, Quebec, with a Takahashi FSQ-106N apochromatic refractor telescope and Sony α7S mirrorless digital camera (modified for “full spectrum” response) equipped with an internal IDAS HEUIB-II filter. The final image combines 413, 30-second exposures shot at ISO 8000.
