The great Carina Nebula under pristine Bortle 1 skies in Takahue, New Zealand
I took this image during my recent family campervan trip to New Zealand on 19th February 2024 in Takahue, North NZ. New Zealand has one of the darkest skies of our planet. Everything was so clear. There were a few clouds early on that night, but thankfully the sky cleared near midnight. I stayed almost all night to capture many Southern Hemisphere deep sky targets, and Carina was one of them.
Tech Card
Date / Location
19th February 2024, Takahue, New Zealand, Bortle Class 1/2 ~SGM: 21.99 mag./arc sec2
Equipment
Camera: Nikon D810A
Imaging Telescope: Takahashi FS-60CB
Correcting Lens: Takahashi Reducer 0.72x (composite focal length at 264mm and focal ratio at f/4.9)
Mount: Skywatcher Star Adventurer (guided with Lacerta MGEN II autoguider)
Image Quality
14 bit RAW (NEF)
Exposure time per image / number of composites and sensitivity
ISO 800, 38 x 60" subs
Total Integration Time
38mins
Calibration Frames
20 Darks, 50 Bias, 20 Flats
Software
PixInsight 1.8 Core
Photoshop
DEEP SKY
STARSCAPE
SOLAR SYSTEM
EVENTS
