Astro Anarchy: The Grande Mosaic of Auriga

Sunday, March 8, 2020

The Grande Mosaic of Auriga

At 2012 I published a large mosaic image out of constellation auriga. I have now shot new photos from the area and I was able to update my original panoramic photo mosaic.

I have now somehow better tools but also my skills has been improved. In this image there are active star forming regions and there are two supernova remnants visible in this panoramic image. I have also reprocessed the original photo for better colors and details.

Original mosaic has 12 panels, since my current imaging system has much large image sensor, I was able to cover several panels with just two photos. The photo has resolution of 15.000 x 9000 pixels.
Originally I used The Canon EF 200mm f1.8 camera lens and QHY9 astronomical camera with Baader narrowband filter set. new material is shot with Tokina AT-x 300mm f2.8 camera lens and Apogee Alta U16 astronomical camera with Astrodon 50mm square narrowband filter set.
The total exposure time before current additions was around 70h. With new photos, the exposure time is now 90h.

Panoramic Photo of Auriga

Click for a large image, it's worth it! (2400 x 1300 pixels)

Note, the apparent size of the full Moon is marked as a white circle at lower left corner for the scale.
Mapped colors from the emission of ionized elements, R=Sulfur, G=Hydrogen and B=Oxygen.
Large image 2400 pixels wide and ~4MB. Original resolution was about 15000 x 9000 pixels.

There are some rarely imaged objects, like Sharpless supernova remnants Sh2 224, 225 and 240 (Simeis 147). At middle there are several open clusters and Sharpless objects. (Look for an attached map at end of this page.) Outer parts of IC 405 and 410 Nebula complex are seen too. There is an interesting looking loop of gas at the Left side of the central nebula complex.

H-alpha light only, labeled