NGC 7023 - The Iris Nebula

Date:              October 31, 2008

Location:        Seven Sisters Observatory - Manchester MI   

Equipment:    Megrez 90 APO, FFIII, Canon 10D Modified 

Conditions:     Poor to worse!

Film:               None!  DSLR @ ISO 800    

Exposure:       8 X 900 seconds and 12x600 seconds with 3 X 900 seconds and 4x600 seconds dark frames

Comments:     I was unsatisfied with my shot of this taken on the 29th.  I re-shot four hours of data on the 31st but the conditions were very bad with transparency starting out poor and getting worse as the night progressed.   much to my surprise I captured a meteor on one frame and I was able to preserve it through the processing.  I really need a longer focal length system to shoot this one.  An interesting fact - the bright star that illuminates this reflection nebula is a youthful Herbig Be star (HD200775) and is thought to be less than 5000 years old!