M97, The Owl Nebula, up close and personal

[Tim]

Been a bit quiet lately to say the least on the imaging front, and the weather has kept me preoccupied at work, but here's what I was working on for most of the clear nights that we did have in Jan/Feb/March. I'm not entirely sure I have finished this one, but its been sitting on my hard drive for weeks, thought I may as well post it

The Owl Nebula, M97 is a bright planetary with strong Ha and Oiii emissions, and a much fainter outer shell that shows on long Oiii exposures.

The Atik 428ex binned at 2x2 still gives good resolution (around 0.8 arcsec/pixel IIRC) and great sensitivity, so I felt confident to get this data using my C9.25 at F10. The subs needed to be longer naturally, so this image is comprised of 30 minute subs in Ha and Oiii, as well as some LRGB data added as appropriate. Guiding at this focal length (2400mm or so) presented a bit of a challenge, but the humble EQ6 proved to be up to the job, without any PEC correction etc.

It is nice to be able to bring out some of the details revealed by bigger scopes, and all from a back garden in a heavily light polluted Coventry.

Around 35 hours of exposure or so, Celestron C9.25 @f10, Atik 428ex binned 2x2, Baader filters.

Thanks for looking.

Tim

[Spikey]

Awesome work as always Tim, that is a very impressive image. Certainly looks a lot different with that amount of fine detail.

[Skybrowser]

Think that's the best Owl neb image I've ever seen. Really impressive.

[ianaiken]

Yes, that is definitely the best image I've seen today. Is that full frame too or cropped?

[RobH]

I've seen a few Owl nebs, and some have looked pretty good.

Usually, any improvement on other images of the same object is slight, but not in this case.

This is an order of magnitude better than anything I've seen done with sub 2 metre scopes.....brilliant Tim, well done

[Dave Smith]

WOW - very impressive.

Dave

[MikeD]

A fantastic image, well worth every second you have put into it.

Mike.

[Gunnar]

Fantastic!

Gunnar

[steppenwolf]

This is a really stunning image, Tim - your dedication to a single object over a long period of time has been amply rewarded. Best Owl image I've seen from a typical UK location. Well done!

[andrew63]

Looks very similar to the view from my 4" refractor!

Seriously though, a stunning image.

andrew

[symesie04]

Holy cow Tim. Thats astonishing on a F10 SC. Just shows what can be done at such a slow speed if you have the patients. Worth every minute of the 3 months of dedication.

[pel]

It really looks like an Owl. Great image.

[kenmyers]

This is brilliant. Amazing detail. Better than any I have seen.

[brianw1]

That's absolutely amazing, just wow.

[jgs001]

Amazing Tim, stunning image, wonderful details

[starnut]

Now that is a WoW shot well done

[Tom OD]

Super pic Tim, and great dedication to get 35hours of data. Very impressive guiding too with the EQ6.

Tom.

[Catanonia]

Amazing work and such long FL that you really have the scale and detail. 35 hours, nice going mate.

[Gina]

That is absolutely amazing and shows all the expert work that's gone into it - brilliant

[Quatermass]

What an amazing amount of detail in this image never knew it looked like this close up.

[Anweniel]

That really is something else Tim, the depth the striking colour the detail you've absolutely ripped out of it ti be honest Im struggling for a superlative that does this justice so I dont think I will!!

Far from an Owl looks mor elike a man trapped in a bubble to me lols

[Uranium235]

Aye carumba!! Thats flippin' marvellous!

[Keiran]

Thats okay i suppose, but i would have thought after your recent purchase of Hubble on ebay it would have been better

That is amazing mate...

[Black Knight]

I think that's the best Owl I've seen. Simply outstanding.

[Tim]

Thanks guys

In answer to the question, it isn't a crop, that is the size it appears on the chip.

Can't wait until M1 becomes available again