M46 Sc Stack 60frames 600s clipped

Open Cluster Messier 46, NGC 2437 with Planetary Nebula NGC 2438
Puppis

Refs:
https://en.wikipedia...wiki/Messier_46
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2438

I had hammered thru a number of open clusters with my 115EDT scope a week earlier at our local clubs observing site. The focus has degraded by the time I had M46 so the image was a bit rough. I had forgotten this open cluster is more interesting than the common Winter open cluster. It has a nice planetary at the edge of the cluster. There is a second planetary just out of the field of this view.

So I decided to follow up last weekend at home with my larger 8" SCT and increase exposure times to 10 minutes, and also make sure the focus was clean. The planetary is obvious in the this view of the M46. I have seen some extended details in online images of this PN, but did not find this detail while actively stretching the view. The planetary is not associated with M46, but it is a nice set of overlapping objects in the sky. This is really a nice compact PN, similar to M57 with a spherical shell. This means the planetary was formed from a single star shedding it's outer shell over time.

10 Minute EAA View
8" SCT @F/4.23
ASI2600mc pro: 10s subs, 450 gain, -10C, darks and flats applied
Background Subtraction=Blended Offset
Capture Area=3128x3132
Image clipped and converted to jpg