ROAST ::

July 23/24. Another misleading forecast, with clouds allegedly all night. But it turned out clear, and as the nights are now getting longer I tried a mosaic of the Heart Nebula, which for a change does actually look like its moniker:

This is a large emission nebula in Cassiopeia, and is paired with the nearby Soul Nebula, off-screen at the top. It needed a mosaic to get it all in, and to get both in the same image will need 2 or 3 separate mosaics.

The bright area at the bottom is NGC 896, and the nebula’s reddish H-alpha emission is powered by radiation from the group of stars at its centre (IC 1805).

Details:
Target: Heart Nebula (IC 1805, Sh2-190, Valentine Nebula, Running Dog Nebula)
Time: 2026-07-24 01:10..04:06
Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band filter, perfect EQ
Mosaic: 1.8×1.8, 40 images per tile
Integration: Total: 2hrs 35mins (155×60secs, +4 failures), gain 70
Conditions: Clear, Bortle 6
Processing: PhotoDesk equalisation, gamma, crop, rotation

While waiting for the Heart to appear, I had another go at the Elephant Trunk nebula:

The “Trunk” (IC 1396A, or Sh2-131) is the curly dark dust lane on the right. It’s embedded in the large nebula known as IC 1396, which is being illuminated by the bright star in the middle of the image, HD 206267.

Off-screen at the top is Mu Cephei, or the Garnet Star. This red hypergiant is extremely large, about 762 times bigger than the sun — it would engulf both the Earth and Mars if it was in our system. A target for later.

Details:
Target: Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, IC 1396A
Time: 2026-07-23 23:04..00:58
Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band filter
Integration: 1hr 45mins (105×60secs, no failures), gain 70
Conditions: Clear, Bortle 6
Processing: PhotoDesk equalisation, gamma

And so to bed…