With the purchase of an additional 15mm extension tube I was ready for a clear night and Sunday night delivered. I got the 9.25″ setup on the CG-5 relatively quickly and found that with the additional tube both cameras were able to focus. M78 is something I’ve wanted to image for a while so after aligning the mount a goto put the twin stars of the nebula in the field of view.
The big problem was finding a guide star in this region. I found that putting a wide field eyepiece in for an initial look is a good time saver and, having found a star I replaced the camera and set it for 2 second exposures for guiding with PHD.
Initial attempts at 5 minute exposures were unsuccessful so I dropped these to 3 minutes and set the QHY running for 2 hours worth. Despite some fairly erratic guiding graphs I was surprised at the quality of the images and only had to throw 2 for non-round stars and one for a satellite trail.
M78 is part of a larger nebula complex in Orion with M42/43 the most prominent component. It is the only principle reflection nebula in the Messier catalog. McNeil’s variable nebula is bright and visible towards the top right of the image.
For another reflection nebula, check Dan’s post here: http://farawaythings.blogspot.com/2011/12/perseus-cloud.html