Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Auriga (Aur)  ·  Contains:  Flaming Star Nebula  ·  IC 405  ·  The star 16 Aur  ·  The star 17 Aur  ·  The star 18 Aur
IC 405 (Sh2-229, Caldwell 31), the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga, Mark Wetzel
IC 405 (Sh2-229, Caldwell 31), the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga
Powered byPixInsight

IC 405 (Sh2-229, Caldwell 31), the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga

IC 405 (Sh2-229, Caldwell 31), the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga, Mark Wetzel
IC 405 (Sh2-229, Caldwell 31), the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga
Powered byPixInsight

IC 405 (Sh2-229, Caldwell 31), the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Casitas de Gila, Gila, NM, October 16 - 17, 2023IC 405, the Flaming Star Nebula (SH 2-229, Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga.  The “smoke” from the flaming star is the bluish structure that appears to emanate from the bright star AE Aurigae.  This is a cloud of dust reflecting the light of the star whose strong stellar wind has shaped the gas and dust into this fascinating structure.  The surrounding red area is the hydrogen-alpha emission in a large gas cloud that is irradiated by the star.  IC 405 is about 1,500 light-years away from Earth.

Imaging details:

Stellarvue SVX102T refractor with 0.74x focal reducer (FL = 528mm, f/5.2)
ZWO large off-axis guider with a ZWO ASI 174MM mini guide camera
Losmandy G11 mount with Gemini 2
ZWO ASI 2600MM Pro cooled monochrome camera (-10C)
Chroma 36mm Hydrogen-alpha, Red, Green, and Blue filters
Equatorial camera rotation: 0 degrees

Software:    Sequence Generator Pro, ASTAP plate solving, PHD2 guiding, 
    Losmandy Gemini ASCOM mount control and web client interface,
    SharpCap Pro for polar alignment with a Polemaster camera,
    PixInsight 1.8.9-2,
    Photoshop 2024

Hydrogen-a  10 min x 18 subframes (180 min), Gain 100, Offset 32, 1x1 binning
Red             2 min x 56 subframes (112 min), Gain 100, Offset 32, 1x1 binning
Green          2 min x 56 subframes (112 min), Gain 100, Offset 32, 1x1 binning
Blue            2 min x 54 subframes (108 min), Gain 100, Offset 32, 1x1 binning

Total integration time: 8.53 hours

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

IC 405 (Sh2-229, Caldwell 31), the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga, Mark Wetzel