Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cancer (Cnc)  ·  Contains:  IC 523
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Abell 31, Brendan Kinch
Abell 31
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Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Abell 31, Brendan Kinch
Abell 31
Powered byPixInsight

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

Abell 31 (or PK219+31.1) is an ancient planetary nebula in the constellation of Cancer. It is estimated to be about 2,000 light years away. Although it is one of the largest planetary nebulae in the sky, it is not very bright and not so easy to image. Its shape is caused by interaction with the interstellar medium, as it is moving through space at high speed. The PN was discovered in 1955 by George Abell on the POSS plates.
Some might find it interesting to note that the spiral galaxy IC523 (upper left in the annotated image) is an estimated 386 million light years from the Milky Way.

Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging cameras: QSI 6120i
Mounts: Takahashi EM 400 Temma 2
Guiding cameras:QHY CCD QHY 5 II
Focal Extender / Reducer:  Tak QE 0.73x used in Feb.
Software: PHD 2,  Astro Pixel Processer, PixInsight ,  Sequence Generator Pro SGP
Filters: Astrodon Ha (5nm), OIII (5nm) & Astrodon RGB
Accessories: ATIK EFW2

Frames:
Astrodon Ha: 24x900" + 13x1200"
Astrodon OIII: 24x900" + 18x1200
Astrodon RGB: 45x120"" 
Integration: 23 Hours 30 Mins.

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Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Abell 31, Brendan Kinch

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