M27, The Apple Core Nebula in RGBSHO
Apple Core (aka Dumbbell) Nebula (M27) in RGBSHO
Planewave CDK12.5; AP 1100GTO AE
QHY600M, - Antlia Pro BB & 3.5nm NB filters
H,O,S: (21,19,15 x 720s Bin 1, Gain 26)
R,G,B: (19,22,20 x 120s, Bin 1, Gain 26)
Total integration time = 13.0 hrs, June 18,20,22 & July 1, 2024
I have chosen to use the less common, but in my eye much better “Apple Core” name for this planetary nebula in Vulpecula. Its core is roughly spherical, but there is lots of structure caused by turbulence in the material expanding outward from the central bright white dwarf star. Surrounding the bright core is another dim shell of material making it look as if this apple core can fly.
The image represents First Light for my new QHY600M camera. Overall I am happy with my camera as its build quality seems better, and there are more feature than my ASI6200 that shares the same actual sensor. One thing that is a bit frustrating is the buggy driver. At first I had to re-install the driver each time I connected the camera, but I found a trick that allowed it to connect. There is also no dew heater in this camera.
The other frustrating thing was the weather. The rainy season stopped late this year, and the images needed to be heavily culled due to lunar sky gradients coupled with lots of moisture and clouds. That and the time of year when there is only about 1hr/night of astronomical darkness.
The Apple Core Nebula is actually very colourful in narrowband, with the each of the filters giving starkly different signals. In addition the broadband colours, taken primarily for the stars, ended up being very strong as well, Maybe it was because I hadn’t processed narrowband for a whilte, but I really struggled to get something to look right using the Hubble palette alone. The best colours were obtained by combining the RGB and HSO colour signals. Narrowband frames were used for the luminance, as this signal was much stronger, particularly for the “wings” that my limited RGB integration times barely registered at all.
