Planetary Nebula

Planetary nebula (PN) are a type of emission nebula formed as a part of the final stages of a red giant star where the material in the outer layers of the star are ejected to leave a hot, luminous core known as a white dwarf. The ejected material is energized (ionised) by the ultraviolet radiation from the white dwarf and consequently glows with the emitted light at wavelengths characteristic of the component elements.

Planetary nebula are relatively shortlived at 10’s of 1000’s of years (compared to the billions of years for the parent stars) and their age can be determined by comparing their rate of expansion to their physical dimensions.

NGC6302 – The Bug Nebula

NGC7293 The Helix Nebula 17 Sep 2017

I am a little late in uploading this as, i have to admit, I have been struggling with motivation quite a bit lately. This year has been clouded out almost continuously and even on those nights where there is a parting of the clouds it is only for a couple of hours before they roll…

M57 The Ring Nebula 18 Sep 15

The first attempt at imaging M57, The ring nebula on 18 Sep 2015. The opportunity was taken to image this when it appeared from between trees in the middle of doing the pointing model for EQMod. Given that it is listed as +8.8 apparent magnitude and was in the worst quadrant for LP, I was sceptical of being able to pick it up, but it actually came through the LP OK due to it’s compact size.