NGC 650 & 651 (M76)
NGC 2438
NGC 3587 (M97, Owl Nebula)
NGC 6953 (M27)
NGC 7293 (Helix)
10-inch Newtonian, ST2000XM, 60:32:36:36
This planetary is usually called the "Little Dumbbell". It was originally cataloged in the NGC as two objects, NGC 650 and 651. It is one of the more irregular planetary nebulae. My image shows the brighter arcs of gas surrounding the central bar, but there is a lot more to be seen in very long exposures. If you stare long and hard at my full size image, you can detect some faint wisps essentially at the noise level outside the brighter arcs. It would probably take 10+ hours of exposure with my equipment to even start to show detail in these structures.
10-inch Newtonian, ST2000XM, 40:20:20:20 minutes
Messier 97, the Owl, is a beautiful planetary nebula right off the corner of the bowl of the Big Dipper. The pale green color is detectable visually in a moderate size telescope. There are many tiny background galaxies in the field, best seen in the full size image.
Astro-Tech AT66ED, ST2000XM, 24:20:16:16 minutes, 76' x 102'
The large, rich, blue open cluster is M46 (NGC 2437),and the tiny planetary is NGC 2438. NGC 2438 is very nearly a twin of the Ring Nebula, but much smaller. While it appears to be part of the cluster, it is now thought to be just a chance alignment.
I find the percentage of blue stars within the cluster compared to the percentage outside the cluster to be striking. With NGC 2438 and the very orange bright star SW of the cluster, it is a colorful and beautiful field. This is another image from my observatory in West Point, TX.
NGC 6953 (M27, The Dumbbell)
10-inch Newtonian, ST2000XM, 20:20:20:20 Minutes
M27 is probably the second most photographed of the summer Messier objects, after M57, The Ring. It is located in a beautiful Milky Way star field, adding to the impression both visually and photographically. The faint central star has, according to Burnham, a surface temperature near 85,000 degrees K, making it extremely blue.
NGC 7293 (Helix)
10-inch Newtonian, ST2000XM, 92:64:64:64 minutes
The Helix is perhaps my favorite image so far. It is a big, colorful, spectacular object. It is a challenge visually because it is very large --about half the diameter of the full moon -- and has a fairly low surface brightness. Like M27, the central star is extremely hot, in this case calculated at over 100,000 degrees K.
Also notice the very faint tail of gas sweeping N from the SE edge of the body. You will have to look very closely to see it in these images.
