How to photograph the Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443)
The arc of a supernova remnant next to the bright star Eta Geminorum.
Photo bySiderevs nuncivs(CC BY-SA 4.0)
When to shoot it from your location
About the Jellyfish Nebula
The Jellyfish is the bright edge of an old supernova remnant in Gemini. It is faint in a stock camera and shows up well with a dual-band filter and a few hours of data.
Gear and framing
The Jellyfish Nebula spans about 50′ of sky. It frames best with:
- Telephoto (85-300mm lens)
- Small refractor (250-600mm)
You can see how other people have built their rigs on RigDesigner, including my Sony a6700 and 60mm refractor rig.
Filters
This target glows in hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III light. A dual-band filter, or separate narrowband filters with a mono camera, lets that light through and blocks most light pollution and moonlight. It is a good choice for city skies and for nights with the Moon up.
Tips
- Keep Eta Geminorum just out of the frame or expect halos from it.
Processing
Stack your light frames with darks and flats, then remove the background gradient before stretching. AstroBake does all of this for you. Point it at your folders of raw frames, then adjust the result with live sliders.