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IC443 - Supernova Remnant in Gemini
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Copyright 2005 Hap Griffin
This is a photo of one of the
most important processes in the universe...the remnants of a star which has
ended its life in a colossal explosion and is scattering the heavier chemical
elements it has synthesized during its lifetime back into space, to be
incorporated into future stars and planetary systems. Elements heavier
than hydrogen are only synthesized in the interiors of stars by nuclear fusion,
with the heaviest elements created only in the enormous energies of a supernova
explosion. The iron in your blood and the calcium in your bones was
created in the interior of a past generation of stars. Joanie Mitchell
sang in her song "Woodstock", "we are stardust"...we truly
are.
IC443 is sometimes called the "Jellyfish Nebula" because of its
shape. The bright star to the right of IC443 is Propus, a 3rd magnitude
red giant that shines with the power output of 2400 suns. Propus lies in
the foreground at 350 light-years distant while IC443 lies at a distance of 5000
light-years. The blue reflection nebula at the upper left and the faint
red emission nebula at the left are part of the large IC444 complex which
extends beyond this photo.
Registar reports
15,200 stars in this photograph.
Date/Location:
February 4, 2005 Griffin/Hunter
Observatory Bethune, SC
Instrument: Canon 300D Digital SLR (modified) through Orion ED80 w/ Meade
.63 Focal Reducer piggybacked on LX-200
Focal Ratio: Approx. f4.5
Guiding: Auto through LX-200 w/ SBIG ST-237
Conditions: Visually clear
Weather: 37 deg. F
Exposure: 80 minutes total @ ISO 800 (16 x 5 min exposures) calibrated with flat frame
and Master Dark frame (median combine of 9 darks)
Filters: Baader UV/IR Block
Processing: Focused and captured with DSLRFocus.
RAW to TIFF conversion, frame calibrations, Digital Development,
Adaptive Richardson_Lucy deconvolution, scaling and JPEG conversion with ImagesPlus.
Frame alignment in Registar. Noise reduction with
NeatImage.