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NGC 7293 Helix Nebula (APO120 Ra).jpg
This is the large and relatively bright (magnitude 7.6) planetary nebula NGC 7293, known as the Helix Nebula, in Aquarius. It is thought to be one of the closest planetary nebulas to us, at 650 light years away, thus its large size, nearly 1/4º across, half the size of the Moon's disk. There's an outer halo that is twice that size, but only the brightest portion of it is recorded here as a partial arc. The Helix is also Caldwell 63.
The bright star at left is 5th magnitude star Upsilon Aquarii, which I composed to be in the frame and not on the edge if the Helix had been centered.
Technical:
This is a blend of:
- a stack of 24 x 8 minute exposures with no filter, blended with ...
- a stack of 20 x 12 minute exposures with an IDAS NBX narrowband filter to isolate just the green Oxygen III and red Hydrogen alpha light.
All through the Askar APO120 refrractor at f/7, taken over 2 nights as the object was not well-placed for long enough for all the images to be taken in one night. Shot using the Canon Ra, at ISO 3200 for the filtered frames and ISO 1600 for the unfiltered shots. Taken from the Quailway Cottage in southern Arizona in October 2024. Adobe AI DeNoise applied to the raw files.
The bright star at left is 5th magnitude star Upsilon Aquarii, which I composed to be in the frame and not on the edge if the Helix had been centered.
Technical:
This is a blend of:
- a stack of 24 x 8 minute exposures with no filter, blended with ...
- a stack of 20 x 12 minute exposures with an IDAS NBX narrowband filter to isolate just the green Oxygen III and red Hydrogen alpha light.
All through the Askar APO120 refrractor at f/7, taken over 2 nights as the object was not well-placed for long enough for all the images to be taken in one night. Shot using the Canon Ra, at ISO 3200 for the filtered frames and ISO 1600 for the unfiltered shots. Taken from the Quailway Cottage in southern Arizona in October 2024. Adobe AI DeNoise applied to the raw files.
- Copyright
- © Alan Dyer/AmazingSky.com
- Image Size
- 6700x4400 / 6.0MB
- www.amazingsky.com
- Contained in galleries
- Nebulas, NGC/IC Objects

