Luckily (or unluckily) the Anteater nebula sits on the corner of four fields in the Astrobin Community Survey this is currently underway. Having taken all four fields (each 75-90minutes in duration) I also added then together with a few hours of data I had obtained on this object last year to produce this image.
Not only is the data more extensive, but my image processing is also improving. Although I suspect the latter is largely due to the availability of tools such as BXT and the new WBPP pipeline in PI over the past year since I last imaged the Anteater.
To bring out the nebula, I have have to not only reduce the effect of the stars, but flatten the stellar gradient across the field. In the larger area now being created by the ABC survey, the true scale of the Anteater against the Milky Way becomes apparent (image reduced to 30arcsec/pix, from 6.2arcsec/pix)
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