Brian Meyer’s captured this surreal shot of the Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) in Draco with his SVX152T. This nebula rests about 3,300 light-years away from Earth and has a diameter of roughly 0.2 light-years. It was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by English amateur astronomer William Huggins, who demonstrated that planetary nebulae were gaseous and not stellar in nature. The bright part at the nebula’s center consists of the inner elongated bubble filled with hot gas.
According to Brian:
Another object I couldn't shoot to my satisfaction until I got the 152. I just didn't have the reach and resolution to pull in the core details. The dynamic range between the bright core and faint outer areas is a bit of a challenge to deal with, in processing, but good clean data makes it easier.
AstroBin: For more details and an in-depth look at this image, visit Brian’s AstroBin.
Details:
- RGB – 3h (60sec exposures)
- OIII – 2h5’
- Ha – 1h40’
- Scope – Stellarvue SVX152T
- Imaging Cam - ZWO 2600MM Pro
- Filters – Optolong SHO 3nm | Antlia RGB
- Mount – Sky Watcher AZ-EQ6R | Sky Watcher CQ350
Other Designations: NGC 6543, Snail Nebula, Sunflower Nebula, Caldwell 6.
References:
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, May 2). Cat’s Eye Nebula. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_Eye_Nebula
Todd, I. (n.d.). Cat’s Eye Nebula complete guide. BBC Sky at Night Magazine. https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/nebulae/cats-eye-nebula
Cat’s Eye Nebula - NASA Science. (n.d.). https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/cats-eye-nebula/