First Light from Our New Remote Observatory in Australia: The Vela Supernova Remnant
There’s something truly special about seeing the first major image come out of a brand-new remote observatory. After months of planning, assembling, and fine-tuning the system, The DSRO team and myself are thrilled to share the first deep-sky image captured at Swan Reach Imaging remote observatory: the Vela Supernova Remnant Mosaic.
With this first image I’m excited to announce that I will be officially joining the DSRO Australian team, working alongside Steve Mandel and Bob Fera. This marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter, and there will be many more incredible deep-sky images coming from this rig and location under the DSRO Australia name. The combination of amazing equipment, pristine skies, and a dedicated team will allow us to push the boundaries and hopefully make a few new discoveries as well.
This observatory is a game changer for me personally. Going from the cloudy nights of Melbourne, Bortle 7 and a good 40 nights a year to operating from Bortle 1 skies with 2900 hours of exposure time available per year at f/3.6, the potential for capturing incredibly deep and detailed images is unparalleled. The level of faint structures and intricate filaments visible in this data set is something I have never seen before in this object.
This six-panel mosaic showcases the Vela Supernova Remnant, the vast remains of a massive star that exploded around 11,000 years ago. The sheer scale and complexity of this nebula make it a breathtaking target. With 200 hours of total exposure time, this got to be one of the deepest and most detailed images of this region. And, we plan to add more to it in the coming months… which will most certainly warranty me getting a new computer just to process it!
Processing Approach: Bringing Out the Hidden Structures
A lot of time was spent perfecting the LRGB image, to build the image in a natural and well-balanced representation of this supernova remnant. From there, narrowband data was incorporated to further enhance the fine structures:
- H-alpha was mapped primarily to red but also slightly to blue to achieve a pinkish-red hue.
- Oxygen III was mapped to blue and green.
- Sulfur II was mapped to both the green and red channels to produce a yellow hue, since sulfur appears as a natural yellow in solid form, this mapping makes its location in the remnant more apparent.
This colour mapping is not often used on this target, as many astrophotographers tend to go for a traditional HOO or SHO palette. However a straight SHO combination doesn’t produce an aesthetically pleasing result for this particular object and with the HOO you miss out on the Sii contribution which is significant. By blending the narrowband filters with LRGB data this way, the aim was to create an image that remains both meaningful in terms of emission lines and star colours but also visually engaging and close to real colours
The Observatory Setup & Collaboration
This observatory would not have been possible without the incredible support of Steve Mandel, who not only brought me onboard for this project but is also the founder of the DSRO South with this new addition, the Swan Reach Rig in South Australia. Steve’s generosity and vision have made this setup a reality, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to collaborate on such an ambitious project.
The imaging rig itself is something special. Steve commissioned me to design and assemble this system in December 2024, and after a short month of fine-tuning and driving a couple thousand km to setup this up, it is now operating flawlessly. One of the most exciting aspects of this setup is the Electronic Assisted Photon Cage, which allows us to achieve perfect tilt correction which is a must at f3.6. The ability to automate tilt adjustments with every rotation eliminates one of the biggest pain points in deep-sky imaging.
