From Triangulum to Andromeda

Image Title: From Triangulum to Andromeda

Date image was taken: October 06, 2023

Location: Lorraine (FRANCE)

Image Description and Details: Following our last collaboration which highlighted the presence of Alpha Hydrogen (Hα) in the Pleiades region, and knowing that the presence of this same gas is known in the M31 area, we wanted to apply our method in a large mosaic covering the area from M33 to M31 to see if we could highlight this one around M33.

We had already shot M31 and M33 in HOO with our respective setups, so we incorporated this data.

The Hα we see is not in the direct vicinity of these galaxies, but in the foreground of the Milky Way.

We therefore set up a double setup consisting of a Zwo ASI 6200MM to capture the Hα and a Zwo asi 2400MC to capture the RGB, with the stars shot separately by the 6200. We use two Sigma Art 135mm on these cameras.

The 23 hours of exposure at F2 revealed some beautiful Hα structures.

To get a lot of signal quickly we decided to open the lenses to F2. The stars are then unusable, but we can capture a lot of signal quickly.

As stars are not usable at F2, we decided to shoot them separately at F10. This gives us well-rounded, colorful stars, as well as some nice aigrettes due to the lens diaphragm, on the brightest stars.

207h of acquisitions during 32 nights between 02/08/2022 and 06/10/2023

Equipment Details: Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses:

Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM (Art) · Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 · Takahashi FSQ-85EDX

Imaging Cameras:

ZWO ASI2400MC Pro · ZWO ASI2600MM Pro · ZWO ASI294MM Pro · ZWO ASI6200MM Pro

Mounts:

iOptron CEM70 · Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ5 Pro · Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro

Filters:

Antlia 3.5nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm · Antlia 3.5nm Narrowband Oxygen III 36 mm · Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm · Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 36 mm · Antlia Blue 36 mm · Antlia Green 36 mm · Antlia Luminance 36 mm · Antlia Red 36 mm · Astrodon Gen1 E-Series Tru-Balance Blue · Astrodon Gen1 E-Series Tru-Balance Green · Astrodon Gen1 E-Series Tru-Balance Lum · Astrodon Gen1 E-Series Tru-Balance Red · Baader H-alpha Highspeed(f/2) Ultra-Narrowband 3.5nm (CMOS-Optimized) 2" · Baader O-III Highspeed(f/2) Ultra-Narrowband 4nm (CMOS-Optimized) 2" · Optolong Blue 2" · Optolong Green 2" · Optolong Luminance 2" · Optolong Red 2"

Copyright: Christophe Vergnes and Yann Sainty