Stephans Quintet and IFN captured by Francesco Meschia

Three years ago, and three months after getting my first astro-camera, I imaged this field with RGB filters from my backyard. Knowing nothing better, I did not collect L data at all. But in the last month I revisited this target and decided to go as deep as my sky and patience would allow. I ended up adding more than 36 hours of L, more than twice the time I had spent on RGB in 2021.

The Deer Lick group, the Stephan’s Quintet, and a bit of IFN by Francesco Meschia

The resulting LRGB combination has very little to do with the original image, in detail, smoothness and depth. It shows some interesting tidal structures around some of the galaxies of the Quintet, and around NGC 7315. It even shows some tendrils of the Integrated Flux Nebula, something I believed to be out of the realm of possible from Bortle 7.

The image is the result of 54 total hours of integration, 36 hours in L and 18 in R, G, and B combined.

Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses: Astro-Tech AT130EDT
Imaging Cameras: ZWO ASI294MM Pro 
Mounts: Astro-Physics Mach1 GTO · iOptron iEQ45 Pro
Filters: Astronomik Deep-Sky Blue 1.25" · Astronomik Deep-Sky Green 1.25" · Astronomik Deep-Sky Red 1.25" · Astronomik L-3 Luminance UV/IR Block 1.25"
Accessories: Dark Sky Geek OAG Focuser · Lacerta MFOC Motorfocus · Lacerta MGEN-2 standalone autoguider · TS-Optics Photoline 3" 0.79x ED Reducer/Corrector (TSRED379) · ZWO EFW 8 x 1.25″ / 31mm  · ZWO OAG (Off-Axis Guider) 
Software: Adobe Photoshop · Cranfield / Payne Generalized Hyperbolic Stretching (GHS) Module/Script · John Murphy NormalizeScaleGradient Script · Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator · Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator · Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator · Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)
Guiding Telescopes Or Lenses: Astro-Tech AT130EDT · Stellarvue F050
Guiding Cameras: ZWO ASI290MM Mini 

NGC 7331 + Quintet captured with an Astro-Tech AT130EDT

Dates:

• Sept. 7 - 8, 2021
• Sept. 10, 2021
• Aug. 28 - 30, 2024
• Sept. 1 - 2, 2024
• Sept. 8, 2024
• Sept. 11 - 12, 2024
   

Frames:

• Astronomik Deep-Sky Blue 1.25": 70×300″(5h 50′) (gain: 0.00) 0°C bin 2×2
• Astronomik Deep-Sky Green 1.25": 72×300″(6h) (gain: 0.00) 0°C bin 2×2
• Astronomik Deep-Sky Red 1.25": 68×300″(5h 40′) (gain: 0.00) 0°C bin 2×2
• Astronomik L-3 Luminance UV/IR Block 1.25": 735×180″(36h 45′) (gain: 0.00) 0°C bin 2×2
   
• Integration: 54h 15′
• Darks: 25
• Flats: 10
• Flat darks: 10
• Avg. Moon age: 14.52 days
• Avg. Moon phase: 19.99%
• Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 7.00
• Mean SQM: 18.50
• RA center: 22h36m37s.95
• DEC center: +34°12′55″.5
• Pixel scale: 1.297 arcsec/pixel
• Orientation: 89.754 degrees
• Field radius: 0.749 degrees
• WCS transformation: thin plate spline
• Resolution: 3400x2400
• File size: 4.7 MB
• Locations: Home, Mountain View, CA, United States
• Data source: Backyard
   

Francesco Meschia's revisited LRGB image of the Deer Lick group, Stephan's Quintet, and Integrated Flux Nebula, captured over 54 hours, showcases impressive improvements in detail and depth compared to the original RGB-only image. Despite the challenges of a Bortle 7 sky, the result reveals faint tidal structures and nebula tendrils.

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