M97 - Owl Nebula in Bicolour (HOO)

[gnomus]

Thanks.

[gnomus]

OK - this is the final version (...... for now .... ).   Some subtle changes to the core which shows the two shells a little more clearly, I hope.

[gorann]

Congratulations Steve to a very nice owl - I belong to those finding this object enigmatic and even beautiful!

I think it is stunning what you managed to capture with a 5" scope in twilight. The level of detail is not far behind the 78"-scope image I posted two week sago (yes, the infamous Liverpool Telescope) and your image is ahead with regard to the outer shell.

 

[gnomus]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

Congratulations Steve to a very nice owl - I belong to those finding this object enigmatic and even beautiful!

I think it is stunning what you managed to capture with a 5" scope in twilight. The level of detail is not far behind the 78"-scope image I posted two week sago (yes, the infamous Liverpool Telescope) and your image is ahead with regard to the outer shell.

 

Thanks very much for your comments Goran.  I was quite chuffed with it.  I'd like to give it even more focal length but these Tec 180s are a tad on the pricey side!  I wonder if we could persuade SkyWatcher to make one?

[gorann]

23 minutes ago, gnomus said:

Thanks very much for your comments Goran.  I was quite chuffed with it.  I'd like to give it even more focal length but these Tec 180s are a tad on the pricey side!  I wonder if we could persuade SkyWatcher to make one?

Why not go for a large achromatic refractor? Costs much less than a TEC (but looks equally impressive) and should do the job as long as you refocus for each filter. Something like this:

http://www.dgoptical.com/refractor.htm

[gnomus]

49 minutes ago, gorann said:

Why not go for a large achromatic refractor? Costs much less than a TEC (but looks equally impressive) and should do the job as long as you refocus for each filter. Something like this:

http://www.dgoptical.com/refractor.htm

'We're gonna need a bigger observatory'