Astrophotography by Keith B. Quattrocchi

IC 443
Supernova Remnant in Gemini
Layered Narrow Band Image

Copyright 2009
Keith B Quattrocchi

      
Image Acquisition Information                      
 
Telescope: 16" RCOS Richey Chretien Telescope (ion milled at 6/9) 
Camera: SBIG STL-6303 M
Guiding: SBIG AOL, Astrodon MOAG AOG (SBIG 237 with FLR)
Filters: Astrodon Ha, SII, OIII
Mount: Software Bisque Paramount ME
Acquisition Programs: The Sky,CCDAutopliot III, CCD Soft. 
Processing Programs: CCDStack, Maxim DL, Photoshop
Date: January 12 - Jan 31, 2009                              
Time: 18x20 min ( 6 hours) each for each of Ha, SII, OIII
Total of 18 hours imaging time.                              
Processing:  CCD Stack and PhotoShop CS/3
 
Image Infornmation:  Multi-layered Narrow Band image of IC 443 in Gemini.  This supernova remnant exploded about 8,000 to 30,000 years ago and is anly about 5,000 light years distant.  There is an X-RAY source (neutron star), within the filamentous remnant, indicating this was likely a Type II Supernova (stellar mass at least 9 times greater than our sun).  In a wider view it has the shape of, and nickname of, the Jellyfish Nebula.  The neutron star is far out of the field of view (towards the lower left) and is also far from the center of the supernova remnant. It is apparently moving at rapid speed perpendicular to the supernova remnant: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/ic443/ 
 
Additional Comments:  This is a Hubble Palette Narrow Band Image (Ha, SII, OIII) assembled in CCDStack with equal components of SII (Red), Ha (Green) and OIII (Blue).  The image was processed in Photoshop CS/3 in two layers.  The first was a highly detailed NB image without distinctive color saturation.  The second was a highly processed (PS CS/3) image with a slight gaussian blurr  (essentially a color mask without color artifact).  The two images were blended using the 'normal' mode (favoring the detailed image, using the colored mask to bring out the distinctive colors without the color artifacts seen in the single layered image first attempted).  Further data stretching, high pass filtering and background smoothing was performed with Adobe Photoshop CS/3.