Tony Hallas caught this sublime shot of the Helix Nebula with the SVX140T in Aquarius. Sometimes referred to as the "Eye of God", this planetary nebula was formed by an intermediate to low-mass star, which sheds its outer layers near the end of its life. It rests at a distance of 650 million light-years away from Earth, appearing as a helix structure. The observed glow of this nebula's central star is so energetic, that it causes the previously expelled gases to brightly fluoresce around it.

Other Designations: NGC 7293, Caldwell 63.

Details:

Telescope: Stellarvue SVX140T

Camera: ZWO 2600M CMOS camera

Filters: Astrodon RGBHaSiiOiii filters

Mount: Astro-Physics 900

Location: Animas, New Mexico (Bortle 1 skies)

Exposure Information:

• R, G, and B data: 14 exposures of 10 min for each filter.
• Narrowband (Ha, Sii, Oiii) 12 exposures of 20 min for each filter.

Software: CCDStack and Photoshop were used to process the image.

References:

Wikipedia contributors. (2024, October 27). Helix Nebula. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helix_Nebula