M27 - 'don't be dumb', it's an apple core (Tom Gray)

M27 - 'don't be dumb', it's an apple core

M27 is a perennial favourite, and so pleased to see faithful friends appearing again after the long, if mild winter. A 'planetary' shell puffed off an ageing hot star, clearly visible in the core. Apparently the complex knots are anything from 11 to 35 billion miles in diameter, and the outer bubble expanding at ~ 17 miles/second [Messier-objects.com].

Hardly fair, but I enjoy comparing my images with the pros, and sometimes with HST - it helps determine what is real, and what are artefacts from overly aggressive processing. Although full frame images are hard to contextualise (and plate solve), and the colours have turned out a bit gaudy, I am rather pleased with this snapshot, which shows impressive detail to the core, and a definite depth.

I did process a more common 'bluer' version of this using the colour module in Startools, but really not representative of the data through my dual narrowband filter; I expect I need to combine this with true LRGB data to show this off properly. The good news, we've got all summer...

I'm not sure what I think about the new 3D stereo images in Startools v1.6 pre-release; they do look quite fun, such that I'm waiting for a 'Google' cardboard VR viewer to arrive in the post. I'll have to wait for the full release, as v1.6 crashes out in XP on my ageing laptop - it could just be that my Pentium M (remember those) doesn't have enough horsepower. As an aside, during lockdown, I've been restoring my first 1993 DEC 386/25 SL laptop - so slow, and lugging it around gives me a sore back, or perhaps that's the old scope. I'm used to 640x480 with my DSI-IIC OSC, but 256 colours...really!

Optolong L-eNhance filter
Altair Astro 183 M/C Hypercams
UK Astro-Imaging
Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT) Imagers
The OSC Club (One Shot Camera)

	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	Basic failed
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	3493945
PixInsight job	n/a
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

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