The Helix Nebula

[crimbfighter]

The Helix Nebula! It's often colloquially called the Eye of God. I imaged this from my Bortle 5/6 back yard on 11/13. The Helix Nebula is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. Planetary nebulae don't actually have anything to do with planets, but consist of a shell of ionized gas which has been ejected from a red giant star, late in its life.

This target sits low in the southern sky for me, making imaging it a challenge. Looking through so much atmosphere low in the sky means you need to wait for very favorable sky conditions to get a sharp image.

-Astro-Tech AT130EDT 130mm f/7 telescope with a 0.8x reducer, making it a 728mm focal length, f/5.6 scope.
-ZWO ASI2600MC Pro cooled camera
-ZWO EAF focuser
-iOptron HAE43 Strain Wave Gear mount
-Optolong L-Extreme dual narrowband filter
-Pegasus Astro Mini Powerbox
-Orion 60mm guide scope
-Orion Starshoot autoguider
-Controlled with a MeLE Quieter3Q mini PC running Windows

Software
-Sequence Generator Pro for acquisition
-PixInsight and Photoshop for image processing
-PHD2 guiding software

-30 x 180sec subexposures
-calibrated with 15 each darks, flats, and dark flats
-Total integration time of 1.5hrs

 

[Jeff15]

Excellent image...

 

[zombiesniper]

Very well done.

 

[crimbfighter]

Excellent image...

Very well done.

Thank you, both!

 

[terri]

Holy crap! Excellent shot, it's beautiful but on my phone it's kind of creepy, too. And I rarely have that reaction!

Amazing work!

 

[wobe]

Yet another beautiful shot!

 

[slat]

Great image.

 

[crimbfighter]

Holy crap! Excellent shot, it's beautiful but on my phone it's kind of creepy, too. And I rarely have that reaction!

Amazing work!

Haha, sorry to creep you out!

Yet another beautiful shot!

Thanks!

Great image.

Thank you!