Valentine's nebula

I know, I'm a little early, but here is the Valentine's nebula, also called Heart and Soul, between Cassiopeia and Perseus.
12/22/2005 from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Canon 20D at ISO 1600, Canon EF-L 200mm at f/3.2. 14 x 3min 30s = 49 min total.
It's incredible the number of planes that passed in the field of view during that time !!

By the way, I would like to see the same kind of picture with a 20Da or a 20D Hutech. The 20D is not sensitive enough for H-Alpha, I would like to see what the other cameras are capable of before considering buying one. A good difficult subject with red nebulosity would do (Valentine, Orion, Horsehead, Jellyfish, IC 443, Rosette...). Thanks.

Attached Image:

Nice series of images, Jean-Denis. I have been thinking that I have to get that lens, but the reason I want it is that it seems to have very little CA. The edges on some of your shots look a tiny bit soft, which I would expect, even with a 1.6x crop camera, but are still pretty good for f/3.2. Do the full-resolution files show much chromatic aberration?

Here is a gallery of mostly wide-field shots with both the modified 20D and the 20Da to show you the dramatic difference in both in terms of red sensitivity. The modified 20D has an edge, but it's very minor. The 20Da is the perfect camera if you want to also use it for daytime imaging. I use it that way all the time--it's perfect as a dual-use camera. Also, the live-focus feature is great to have. While the price seems high, it does also come with the AC adapter, which is about a $165 value....

http://www.pbase.com/jhapeman/widefield_images

Nice series of shots!

Jeff