ROAST ::

October 16, a clear night and as winter approaches Orion starts to become visible in the early mornings, though still a bit too low for M 42 to be imageable.

But the constellation’s environs include the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros — last imaged in February, just after I’d got the Mini — and a first go at NGC 2174, aka the Monkey Head Nebula, in Orion. Here’s the Monkey:

It’s an emission nebula about 6,400 light years away, associated with the star cluster in the centre of the nebula, NGC 2175. It looks more like a somewhat surprised human head than a monkey to me though.

Details:
Target: NGC 2174 (Monkey Head Nebula)
Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band, perfect EQ
Time: 2026-10-17 01:07-04:03
Integration: 2hrs 34mins (154×60secs, +8 failures), gain 60
Conditions: Clear; Bortle 6
Processing: PhotoDesk equalisation, gamma, usm5,60,2

And this a megastack of last night’s Rosette Nebula shoot with the February one:

Much improved — I’ve learned a lot about using the scope and processing images in the last 9 months. There were 19 failed images in last night’s shoot, the last 17 because the nebula moved behind a wall.

Details:
Target: NGC 2237 (Rosette Nebula)
Megastack session 1:
 Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band filter, perfect EQ
 Time: 2026-02-28 20:34-21:05
 Integration: 1hr 32mins (92×60secs, +8 failures), gain 90
 Conditions: Clear but hazy; Bortle 6
Megastack session 2:
 Equipment: Dwarf Mini, Duo-Band filter, perfect EQ
 Time: 2026-10-17 04:12-06:09
 Integration: 1hr 45mins (105×60secs, +19 failures), gain 60
 Conditions: Clear; Bortle 6
Total integration: 3hrs 9mins
Processing: PhotoDesk equalisation, gamma, usm 5,60,2

And so to bed…