Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Aquarius (Aqr)  ·  Contains:  NGC 7009  ·  PGC 966057  ·  PGC 966542  ·  PK037-34.1  ·  Saturn nebula
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NGC 7009 The Saturn Nebula, Peter Goodhew
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NGC 7009 The Saturn Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 7009 The Saturn Nebula, Peter Goodhew
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 7009 The Saturn Nebula

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Description

Before starting an imaging run I now do some test images with different filters, exposures, and binning to see which combinations work best. When I examined the OIII 1800s bin 2x2 test image I was surprised to see an asymmetric outer shell with intricate structures, and so factored this into my image capture plan. This is the result. There is also a very faint diffuse OIII shell that is even further out from the core.

I found processing this to be a real challenge, with 7 filters, and exposures varying from 30 sec bin 1x1 to 1800s bin 2x2. Integrating images with such extreme dynamic range was also a challenge. I was concerned by some lighter parts of the sky background, but after checking with other images available online it became clear that this was integrated flux nebula.

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NGC 7009 The Saturn Nebula, Peter Goodhew