NGC 6543 / Caldwell 6 - The Cat's Eye Nebula

[x6gas]

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself posting this as the OIII data I have is not very good and I need a fair bit more of Ha and OIII to really get the outer parts of this planetary nebula singing.

As it is this is 16 x 600s Ha and 9 x 600s OIII all binned 1x1 with an Atik 460ex camera.  Of course I should have the camera binned 2x2 but I am still shaking down my new mount and was keen to see what the images look like binned 1x1 even though this is ridiculously over sampled...

Mount: iOptron CEM60 EC

Scope: EdgeHD 11 with x0.7 reducer (f/7, 1960mm f/l)

Camera: Atik 460ex

Filters: Baader 2"

Guiding: Atik OAG, PHD2 QHY IMG0H and QHY5L - II

Lovely object and not that often imaged for some reason.  I've used a bit of an odd colour mapping to try to bring the best of the detail out, but as I say I need a lot more data especially for the OIII.

Thanks for looking,

Ian

[Uranium235]

A no-brainer to hit the "like" button on this one.... top work!

[gingergeek]

Yes indeed..superb 

[nmoushon]

Thats a gorgeous picture! Well done!

Not to take away from the image but how to you like the CEM60 with the 11"Edge? Have you tried imaging without the reducer and for longer subs? Not that 10min sub is short and I'm sure its difficult even at 2m FL.

[x6gas]

Thanks for the comments - still a work in progress, but promising...

Thats a gorgeous picture! Well done!

Not to take away from the image but how to you like the CEM60 with the 11"Edge? Have you tried imaging without the reducer and for longer subs? Not that 10min sub is short and I'm sure its difficult even at 2m FL.

I am still getting used to the mount to be honest, but I have posted a review here.  I think I've got it working OK now - just tweaking guide settings, really, but time will tell.  Last time out I got nice round stars and didn't lose a sub to bad guiding.  I figure if the rig can do 10 minutes without skipping a beat it can do 20, but I've yet to try it.

I have tried imaging at the native focal length and apparently have the result (M63) in this month's Astronomy Now (not that I've seen it yet!) but I wasn't completely happy with the stars in that image - it was pretty much my first try with the new mount.

The CEM60 has very little backlash, though, and PE is reported to be very smooth so it's promising, but still a bit early to tell.

[Ibbo!]

very nice image

I have one of these cooking at the moment but nowhere near as good hoping to start the ha tonight

how did you mange not to blow out the core ?layering?

Steve

[Chris-A]

Great pic - love these small PNs !

[lensman57]

Lovely, this thing is so small that most of us would not even contemplate going for it with our short EDs.

Regards,

A.G

[RobH]

Nice one.....I've tried this a few times and it's tough, but you've caught the outer layer far better than anything I ever managed.

Shoot some short subs of the centre and add them to this, and you'll have a real belter of an image.

[laser_jock99]

1900mm fl- well done!!

[x6gas]

Thanks again for all the comments - much appreciated.  Most of the credit goes to the new mount, though, and I think it'll get better still as I get more used to it.

very nice image

I have one of these cooking at the moment but nowhere near as good hoping to start the ha tonight

how did you mange not to blow out the core ?layering?

Steve

Thanks Steve.  Actually the core is completely blown out in the OIII subs (it really is very bright at this wavelength) and is pretty close on the Ha too, but yes, I layered the unstretched Ha data through to try to show some structure in the core.  It's actually quite hard to get a decent transition, though...

Nice one.....I've tried this a few times and it's tough, but you've caught the outer layer far better than anything I ever managed.

Shoot some short subs of the centre and add them to this, and you'll have a real belter of an image.

Thanks Rob.  Yes I quite agree; it needs much shorter subs - I suspect a minute or two - to get the structure in the core.  I'll shoot those when the weather permits, but I think the HDR processing for the core will be quite a challenge.

Thanks again, Ian

[Ibbo!]

I started in O111 and yes its blown completely. I did 11 x 1200secs in ha last night and finished with 10 x 60secs and started doing 120's but it was getting too light

will get some more next clear night

thanks for the tips

data data data data as I keep saying

Cheers

Steve

[Martin-Devon]

Probably one of the toughest targets out there to image - this is a really good version Ian, you have to be pleased with this one!

[jaspalchadha]

I do like my cem60 a lot unguided up to 5 minutes can't complain

[tgo747]

This looks great. Keep up the great work