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What could cause the RGB misalignment in the bottom right?

Acquisition RGB Deep Sky Artifacts
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AmyWarble avatar
AmyWarble avatar
This image was produced with ChannelCombination of my RGB channels, then a round of noise reduction.  I captured my frames in this order, 1 hour each: red, green, blue. 

See the RGB artifact in the bottom right?  That artifact (is there a good term for this?) matches the order I captured my frames, suggesting an object was transiting the celestial background.  What would cause that?  Could this be a planet in our solar system?  Or a comet?  How would I go about identifying the source of that artifact?

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andrea tasselli avatar
andrea tasselli avatar
Any decent planetarium programs should be able to show any known SS objects given the frame size, location and time of capture. Otherwise head here:
Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service
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Ian McIntyre avatar
Ian McIntyre avatar
The geometry is quite unnatural. If this were a single frame, I would suspect something in the optical train. 

I'd be curious to see the separate channels/ subframes. What equipment are you using?
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The0s avatar
The0s avatar
A similar post over on Cloudy Nights on this same target mentioned that it might be asteroid Flora - seems like it was in that area not to long ago.
AmyWarble avatar
AmyWarble avatar
Ian McIntyre:
The geometry is quite unnatural. If this were a single frame, I would suspect something in the optical train. 

I'd be curious to see the separate channels/ subframes. What equipment are you using?

See the equipment list here: https://app.astrobin.com/i/q9nddh

This isn't a single frame.  This was the combined RGB masters for the image in the above link.  I CloneStamp'd the RGB artifact out of the published image.

What do you mean by unnatural geometry?
AmyWarble avatar
AmyWarble avatar
andrea tasselli:
Any decent planetarium programs should be able to show any known SS objects given the frame size, location and time of capture. Otherwise head here:
Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service

Thanks.  I tried finding this in Stellarium but it didn't present an object there.  I installed Cartes du Ciel and it showed me Flora (8).  So I think that's my guy.
Brian Puhl avatar
Brian Puhl avatar
Wait until you find about 20 of these guys in your frame.   It becomes a nightmare lol.   Had that issue on my Ced51 a couple years ago.   I ended up just leaving them.
Brian Puhl avatar
Brian Puhl avatar
Also, for what it's worth, Stellarium will show rocks, you just have to enable it.






Flora was in that position on the night of the 12th
Ian McIntyre avatar
Ian McIntyre avatar
What do you mean by unnatural geometry?

It almost looks like a dovetail connection between the 3 sections. Also would expect a more rounded appearance to the ends. That's why I thought it was a reflection, but obviously the mystery was solved. The images on Cloudy Nights have similar characteristics.