• Photos

IC443: Unveiling the Medusa Nebula

Jellyfish Nebula: 2.5 Hours, a Canon 350D, and the Relentless March of Tech

Here’s the Jellyfish Nebula, captured in just 2.5 hours of exposure! Back then, with my trusty old Canon 350D, 2.5 hours was truly a sweet spot. It was enough time to have some real fun, snag some decent results, and still manage to get a good night’s sleep without dedicating the entire night to a single target.

It’s wild to think how fast astrophotography tech, especially with CCDs (and now CMOS!) sensors, moves. I bet in just a few years, images like this will make us chuckle a bit as we look back. So, no need to go for those epic 30-hour exposures, right? We’re bound to be doing so much better in just 3 to 5 years anyway!

  • Capture Date: 2011-12-27
  • Credit: Cédric Thomas
  • Location: ‘Le petit Borobia’ Observatory, remote
  • Telescope: William Optics FLT 110 TEC (oiled spaced) @ F/5.2
  • Focal Reducer: William Optics AFR-IV 0.8x
  • Mount: Sky Watcher N-EQ6 Pro
  • Autoguiding: LodeStar on 80mm guidescope + MaximDL
  • Camera: Modified Canon EOS 350D
  • RGB Exposure: 2.5 hours (30x300s) @ ISO 800
  • Processing: DeepSkyStacker, Levels + Curves (Photoshop)