Look What’s Hiding Among the Stars

Thor’s Helmet (NGC 2359) imaged in HSO by Craig Stocks. Most images of this region don’t show the ionized hydrogen gas surrounding the nebula but the dark Bortle 1/2 sky at Utah Desert Remote Observatories makes it possible to pull it out from the background.

Technical information: Takahashi FSQ106 on a Paramount MX+ with an ASI6200MM Pro monochrome camera. Ha, Oii and Sii at 600s each plus red, green and blue at 120s each for the stars. Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop. Both StarNet V2 and StarXTerminator were used for star management.