NGC3587 by Dave Collings
Submitted by Chelsea Chin
NGC3587: The Owl Nebula
The Owl Nebula (also known as M97 or NGC 3587) is a planetary nebula approximately 2,030 light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is estimated to be about 8,000 years old and is approximately circular in cross-section with a faint internal structure. It was formed from the outflow of material from the stellar wind of the central star as it evolved. The nebula is arranged in three concentric shells, with the outermost shell being about 20–30% larger than the inner shell. The owl-like appearance of the nebula is the result of an inner shell that is not circularly symmetric.
- Imaged in HOO narrowband with RGB stars
- PlaneWave 12.5” CDK with PW 0.66 Reducer.
- Main camera is an ATIK 16200 Mono with EFW3 filter wheel and Chroma filters.
- Guider is the Astromania 400mm with ASI 290MM guide camera.
- My mount is the Astro-Physics 1100GTO CP4.
- Total hours of integration was 13 hours of HOO and RGB stars.
The details in the center came out really good for this target. It is a very difficult target to achieve this kind of detail but the PlaneWave 12.5” CDK pulled it off. You can even zoom in on this to 200% and enjoy really crisp details.
David Collings – Blue Ridge Observatory | Sparta, North Carolina USA
https://www.blueridge-observatory.com