Helix Nebula (NGC 7293)
Helix Nebula (NGC 7293, Caldwell 63) is the largest and closest planetary nebula known in the heavens. It lies about 11° northeast of 1st mag Alpha Piscis Austrini (Formalhaut) in the constellation of Aquarius. It measures about 12′ x 10′ in diameter and is about 520 lightyears from Earth and has a pretty low surface brightness. It’s age is estimated to be around 10’500 years.
To create the image, Ha data have been mixed into the red channel to bring out some more details of the structure within the planetary nebula. North is up in the image.
[description from O’Meara]
Details
Telescope:
Takahashi FSQ-106EDX III
Mount:
10Micron GM2000 HPSII
Camera:
QHY600M-PH
Filters:
Astrodon Gen2
Exposure:
HaLRGB 1040:870:500:465:355 min.
Location:
San Pedro de Atacama — Chile
Author:
© Martin Rusterholz, Astrophotographer
Hello, my name is Martin Rusterholz. I’m a Swiss amateur astrophotographer living near Zurich, the biggest town in Switzerland. My interest in astronomy started when I was 16. At that time, I built my first Newtonian telescope and mount. I studied physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) which was the only study including at least some aspects of astronomy and astrophysics.
“Looking at the nights sky is an experience touching everybody deeply inside, something common to all human beings independent to the language spoken by the individuals”.
Deep-sky astrophotography is my passion.