Dumbbell Nebula 22nd Sept 2009

At long last an attempt to do some DSO imaging. Unfortunately the power supply in my guide camera packed in so I was limited to 30 second exposures.

The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 27, M 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula (PN) in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1,360 light years.

62 x 30 Second exposures using a canon 350d, on a CGE 11 inch SCT c/w 6.3 focal reducer. Taken from Cherrymount, Waterford, Ireland




Thanks for looking

Steve

A 350D eh, well then there's hope for me yet then! Very nice image Steve, maybe a bit low on nebulosity, but still a worthy image Steve. IF you had a Halpha filter, might that have helped with extra frames?

Seanie.

Very respectable image Steve.
How do you find the 350D for noise build up?

Thats a good tack sharp image there Steve.
I'd imagine your camera has the low red blocking filter still in there, it diminishes the nebula somewhat but all the same the detail in there is very good, have you tried doing a monochrome/greyscale version of it ?
Between the 7 and 8 o'clock position (lower left) there is a blue fuzzy object, any idea what it is or is it a star ?

Dave_Lillis wrote:

Between the 7 and 8 o'clock position (lower left) there is a blue fuzzy object, any idea what it is or is it a star ?

:bigshock:
Here we go again..........

Thanks for the feedback folks.

I am using a 350D with the IR Fliter removed, and an Astronomiks CLS CCD filter in place.

I stacked 2 versions of the captures in DSS.

The first one just used the standard colour balance options and resulted in a "very red" image.

With the second processing run (of which the above picture is an example of), I went for a more balanced approach. I also continued this in processing, in an effort to try and get more detail rather than "more nebulosity". It certainly killed the red signal a bit.

I must process the first stacking run just to get a comparison.


Again thanks for the encouragement folks