NGC 3324 - Gabriela Mistral Nebula

NGC 3324 is an open cluster in the southern constellation Carina (the same constellation as our previous image of ETA Carina Nebula)

It is sometimes called the "Gabriela Mistral Nebula" due to its resemblance to the Chilean poet. It is approximately 7560 light years from Earth and is 6.754 million years old.

Once again, this was not our intended target for the night. Trying to resolve the guiding issues of the previous image of ETA Carina Nebula, I decided to remove the counter weight extention bar on the NEQ6 mount and add an extrea 5Kg weight. I slewed to the Resette nebula, calibated the guiding, and then did a 5 minute exposure. Although the result was better than the previous attempt at the Rosette, the stars were still eggy. I found that the tracking was getting gradually worse as I approached the meridian, but then improved the further I tracked away after the meridian flip. Perhaps balancing could be the issue, but I did find some backlash in the DEC, which I have now tuned out. I am now waiting for another clear night to test again and hopefully capture the Rosette Nebula in narroband.a

 

Equipment Details:

•8 Inch Skywatcher Quattro Carbon Fibre F4.0 Newtonian Reflector

•Skywatcher NEQ6 Mount

•SBIG STT 8300m CCD Camera cooled to -20'c

•SBIG FW8G-STT Filter Wheel

•Baader Ha, Oiii and Sii Filters

•SKywatcher BD 102mm Guide Scope

•Meade DSIii CCD Guide Camera

•Polemaster for polar alignment

 

Exposure Details:

•Ha 15X180 seconds - Bin 1x1

•Oiii 15X180 seconds - Bin 1x1

•Sii 15X180 seconds - Bin 1x1

 

Total Integration Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Done