Filaments in black and white, Veil Nebula

I don't usually post in black and white, but during post-processing I liked the look and feel of  this.

A beautifully clear and dark evening afforded this fine take. Unlike star-forming emissive nebulae, the Veil Nebula is the diffuse remnants of a massive supernova. Dim nebula like this are difficult shots for a DSLR camera, even for a modified one as used in this photo. The image effectively comprises 75 minutes of exposure at ISO 1600. Something like this would make a great project over several nights to produce hours of exposure.

Technical bits: unguided, 300 x 15 sec. JPEG frames, 1600 ISO, modified Canon 450D, 200/200 bias/flat calibration, DDP post-processing, and slight color level adjustment. No stretching.  

Hey! ...he's still alive.

Well, this certainly has been a long drought.

After moving in December, I misplaced my camera battery charger. Things went downhill from there. Once in a while I would think to myself, "...where is that d*#m charger?" Similarly, without much nightly goings on nothing happened with the blog.

In short, just a lot of life changes at once, and another big project occupies my evening pursuit. Finally, found the infernal battery charger this past weekend, and last night I was presented with a beautifully clear dark sky. Put the other on hold and started shooting. Need to get updated flats and bias, but a new image should be due, shortly.

Hello!