The Helix Nebula (Finally!) (George Simon)

Celestial hemisphere: Southern · Constellation: Aquarius (Aqr) · Contains: Helix Nebula · NGC 7293

The Helix Nebula (Finally!), George Simon

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The Helix Nebula (Finally!)

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The Helix Nebula (Finally!)

During the 10 years that I imaged on Long Island, NY, I was never able to shoot the Helix Nebula. It was too low in my southern skies, always obscured by trees and by houses across the street. When I moved to upstate South Carolina four and a half years ago, I was excited by the prospect of shooting more southern targets, the Helix prominently among them. For various reasons, however, I was never able actually to image this showpiece planetary nebula until earlier this week.

Even at my more southerly location, shooting the Helix was not without its challenges. As it turns out, the most light-polluted portion of my sky is toward the south, in the direction of the Spartanburg light dome. Nothing to compare with the NYC light dome that I had to deal with on Long Island, but still far from ideal. Then, the Helix just barely clears the southern wall of my observatory, and does so for a relatively brief period of time, with the result that I was limited to three-hours worth of integration time. You will see in the image that I was unable to capture most of the dimmer, peripheral nebulosity in the Helix. (The fact that my camera is unmodded undoubtedly contributed to this inability, as well). Given these limitations, I am happy that I was able finally to capture a more or less decent image of this beautiful planetary nebula.

Cloudy Nights

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Astrometry.net job	6334165
PixInsight job	n/a
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The Helix Nebula (Finally!)

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The Helix Nebula (Finally!)

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