NGC 246 is a very interesting and beautiful planetary nebula 1,600 light years away in Cetus. It’s fairly large and bright so not difficult to see, but the details are a bit difficult to hold. The disc is distinctly mottled and appears almost transparent with an illuminated gossamer film. An Oiii filter helps and so does magnification, but it’s not so bright to handle the dim filter and smaller exit pupil. I used a Televue 1st gen Bandmate Oiii filter with a wide passband to give the view a “gentle” filter to enhance details but not darken the view much.
NGC 246 - The Skull Nebula
150x magnification
14” Dobstuff ETT coma corrected to f/5.5
APM XWA 13mm
Televue type 1 Bandmate Oiii filter
9/16/23, Mt Pinos, CA
SQM-l 21.2, Seeing 3/5, Transparency 4/5