Helix Nebula NGC 7293
Low in my southern sky in the constellation Aquarius, the Helix Nebula is a tough target which I actually didn't think I could image from home. Another collapsed star like the Dumbbell and other planetary nebula, this one resembles a giant eye with the outer hydrogen gas cloud surrounding a bluish center. It's actually relatively close to earth for a deep sky target, only 650 light years away. With the skyglow from New York behind the nebula, and a moderate amount of summer haze in the sky, I suspect this is an image that can be improved dramatically by adding several additional hours of exposure time. With our current weather patterns that will take me well into the 20's!
Tech stuff: Borg 71FL with 1.08X Borg flattener/ZWO ASI 1600MC camera/IDAS LPS-V4 filter/iOptron CubePro 8200 mount, guided. 48 minutes of 8 second exposures captured over two nights with SharpCap 3.2; Processed with PixInsight and finished with GIMP and ACDSee. From my yard 10 miles north of New York City.
Helix Nebula NGC 7293
Low in my southern sky in the constellation Aquarius, the Helix Nebula is a tough target which I actually didn't think I could image from home. Another collapsed star like the Dumbbell and other planetary nebula, this one resembles a giant eye with the outer hydrogen gas cloud surrounding a bluish center. It's actually relatively close to earth for a deep sky target, only 650 light years away. With the skyglow from New York behind the nebula, and a moderate amount of summer haze in the sky, I suspect this is an image that can be improved dramatically by adding several additional hours of exposure time. With our current weather patterns that will take me well into the 20's!
Tech stuff: Borg 71FL with 1.08X Borg flattener/ZWO ASI 1600MC camera/IDAS LPS-V4 filter/iOptron CubePro 8200 mount, guided. 48 minutes of 8 second exposures captured over two nights with SharpCap 3.2; Processed with PixInsight and finished with GIMP and ACDSee. From my yard 10 miles north of New York City.