I first saw this object on the Experience Deep Sky Imaging posts a few days ago. Since last night's skies were darn clear and transparent I had to swing over and see what sort of outcome I could garner on this little planetary nebula. Actually, the sheer color of it alone was striking. It has a very pleasing light purple or violet hue, and that is what I was hoping to pick up.
It was not difficult at all to see the nebula after a preview pic (see the full frame view attached) but it was very small. No matter, I ran with it for 20 minutes and did come away with the interesting color if not very much resolution. The nebula has a fair amount of inner structure to it, of which I did not get but I did get a foreground start buried in the ring itself at about 10 o'clock position. That was sort of nice to find!
I included a cropped version and a full screen version to get a sense of how it initially appeared. I have to admit, I am not a chaser of pl-neb's but i did get my money's worth on this one with the makeup of my rig. And, I may have to go for more of these little guys as aperture under a dark sky didn't seem to be a deal breaker. It was well worth the time spent.
NGC 6894 in Cygnus
William Optics GT81 Series IV - Skywatcher AZ-EQ5 mount
Nikon D5300 (unmod.) - IDAS D1 N5 LPS filter
ASIAir Mini - guided & dithered - 60 sec. exp. for 20 mins. total integration
ISO 320 - Flats, darks, bias frames
Attached Thumbnails
Edited by Maximumron, 07 September 2024 - 08:39 PM.
