M57 - The Ring Nebula
The Ring Nebula (M57) in the tiny constellation of Lyra is a true
showpiece in amateur telescopes. The shell of brightly glowing gas was
formed around 6000 years ago when its central sun-like star (faintly visible
in this photo) blew off its outer layers at the end of its life and became a
white dwarf. A similar fate probably awaits our Sun in a few billion years.
A very faint, very tiny galaxy, IC 1296, is visible in the background at
about the 2:00 position from M57.
This image is a blend of H-alpha with Luminance, red, green, and blue data.
The H-alpha makes visible the surrounding faint shell of material. The image
here has been resampled 200% from its original image scale.
Takahashi Sky 90 at f/4.5
SBIG STL-4020M (self-guided)
Takahashi EM-200
Hutech LPS Filter
Ha: 4:20 (8x20 and 4x30 minute exposures)
Luminance: 90 minutes (5 minute exposures)
RGB: 30 minutes each channel (5 minute exposures)
Processed in Maxim/DL and Photoshop
Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools Actions
Resampled 2x from original
M57 at f/8.9 and Digital Rebel
M57 wide field with Digital Rebel
