SH2-119 – The Clamshell Nebula

A target that it is not often photographed, likely the result of its proximity to its photogenic neighbours, the North America and Pelican nebula, just two degrees to the east. The Oiii is quite weak in the area, reason why I only shot 600sec exposures. I’m pretty pleased with the result and I hope more people will look into this beautiful target rather than pointing their telescopes to its neighbours. 😊

To capture the photo I used the following equipment:
EQ6 equatorial mount
TS65 quadruplet Apo f6.5 refractor with a 420mm focal length
AQHY294M Pro Cmos camera, cooled at – 10°C
Antlia R, G, B and 3nm S, H, O 1,25” filters
Qhyccd QHY5L-IIM guide camera
9x50mm guidescope
Qhyccd Polemaster

Software used:
Eqmod, SGP – Sequence Generator Pro, PHD2, Stellarium, SharpCap for polar alignment

Date: 10.09 to 16.10.2022

Location: Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK – bortle 5

Frames:
Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm: 73×300″(6h 5′) (gain: 1600.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm: 12×600″(2h) (gain: 1600.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Oxygen III 36 mm: 50×600″(8h 20′) (gain: 1600.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Sulphur II 36 mm: 60×300″(5h) (gain: 1600.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Sulphur II 36 mm: 9×600″(1h 30′) (gain: 1600.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia V-Pro Blue 36 mm: 10×60″(10′) (gain: 1600.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia V-Pro Green 36 mm: 10×60″(10′) (gain: 1600.00) -10°C bin 1×1
Antlia V-Pro Red 36 mm: 10×60″(10′) (gain: 1600.00) -10°C bin 1×1

Total integration time 23 hours and 25 minutes

Stacked in AstroPixel Processor and processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop CC 2022