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Welcome to Stellarvue's Stellar Shot Of The Week! If you would like to submit images taken with your Stellarvue telescope, email them to: mail@stellarvue.com. Include the following permission in your email so we may use them: "Attached is my image of (object name). I grant Stellarvue Inc. permission to use this image on the Stellarvue website, in Stellarvue promotional material and in educational programs." Please submit the highest resolution images you can send, preferably in the JPEG format. High resolution images may also be sent in PNG or SVG.

Stellar Shot of the Week

SVX152T - Bear Claw

January 21, 2026 - Brian Poole

Brian Poole caught this sublime shot of the Bear Claw Nebula (HDW 2) in Cassiopeia with his SVX152T. This faint planetary nebula is located 3,600 light-years away from Earth and lies about 3 degrees east of the Soul Nebula (IC 1848). To the lower left of this object lies a small (to the eye), reddish galaxy called PGC168326.

According to Brian: “Processing this one was a real challenge. The faint outer structure made star removal tricky, and some residual patterns in the dust are likely byproducts of SXT. I separated the stars and nebula for independent processing, and there’s still a lot for me to learn with that workflow - especially on an object this dim. Still, it’s exciting to pull out any detail from an object like this.”

Other Designations: Sh2-200, HDW 2, LBN 674, and PK138+04.1, Bear Claw Nebula

Details:

Telescope: Stellarvue SVX152T-35FT

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM COOL

Mount: 10Micron GM1000 HPS

Filters:
Astrodon H-alpha 5nm 1.25"

Astrodon OIII 3nm 1.25"

Telescope and camera control: NINA

Software:

Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight

Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator

Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator