Gallery 1 - Astronomical   >   Deep Sky    >   Nebulae   >   Helix nebula

The Helix Nebula also known as NGC 7293, or Caldwell 63 is a large planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. This object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae at an estimated distance of 700 light-years. Planetary nebulae are formed at the end of a star's life. The central star is pushing gases away from it and exciting the oxygen gases near the center causing it to look blue.

Image Data : Total exp.= 10.5 hours.
L:R:G:B:Ha:OIII = 180: 85: 95: 95: 90: 90 mins.
Location: Space Atacama Lodge, Chile
Equipment: Ceravolo 300 Astrograph at f/4.9,
Mount:Paramount ME
Camera: Apogee U16M with Astrodon filters
Software used: MaxIm DL, Registar, PS CS2
Image Aquisition: Peter
Image Processing: Debra

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