The Cat's Eye Nebula

I didn't realize that the famous central "eye" region is so TINY. The outer shells are drastically fainter than the central, so I mostly blew out the core.

 

A much more challenging target than I realized...Beautiful, but challenging.

 

Equipment

 

Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses

Meade Starfinder 8

Imaging Cameras

ZWO ASI1600 cooled mono

Mounts

Losmandy GM-8

Filters

Orion SkyGlow Imaging Filter · Blue · Green · Red

Accessories

Baader MPCC coma corrector · OnStep GoTo Controller · Rigel Systems Focuser

Software

PHD2 Guiding · Nighttime Imaging ‘N’ Astronomy · Astro Pixel Processor · Adobe Photoshop CS4 Photoshop CS4

Guiding Telescopes Or Lenses

Svbony 60mm guidescope

Guiding Cameras

ZWO ASI120MM

 

Acquisition details

 

Dates:

April 3, 2022 · April 5, 2022

Frames:

Blue: 30x120" (1h) bin 2x2

Green: 30x120" (1h) bin 2x2

Orion SkyGlow Imaging Filter: 189x120" (6h 18') f/6 -10°C bin 2x2

Red: 30x120" (1h) bin 2x2

Integration:

9h 18'

Darks:

100

Bias:

100

Avg. Moon age:

3.09 days

Avg. Moon phase:

11.16%

 

Basic astrometry details

 

Astrometry.net job: 5653362

 

Resolution: 4456x3222

 

Data source: Backyard

Done