Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Aquarius (Aqr)  ·  Contains:  Helix nebula  ·  NGC 7293
Helix Nebula, Kevin Snedden
Helix Nebula
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Helix Nebula

Helix Nebula, Kevin Snedden
Helix Nebula
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Helix Nebula

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Description

I spent the evening October 1, imaging this iconic planetary nebula NGC 7293, "The Helix Nebula" at the request of my daughter Catherine. I used a consumer Canon EOS Rebel T5i modified for improved Ha response by Hap Griffin. The camera was mounted to an Explore Scientific ED127CF (triplet refractor) and I used 12 out of 14 600second exposures. The Helix nebula is 714,000 light years away. It is a challenging object to photograph in my latitude near Augusta, Georgia as it sits low to the South in a belt of light pollution and heavy atmosphere. The colorful object has an uncanny resemblance to a human eye but is really a series of concentric gas shells that were periodically blown off of a low mass star that is becoming a white dwarf type. It is visible in the center and is illuminating the gas from within with high energy particles that imbue a blue fluorescent glow from the gas.

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  • Helix Nebula, Kevin Snedden
    Original
  • Final
    Helix Nebula, Kevin Snedden
    B

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Helix Nebula, Kevin Snedden

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Nebulae