M76 in Perseus 23rd March 2020 @ 20:39 UT
A nice colourful planetary nebula (Little Dumbbell or Cork nebula) near the red giant star HD10498. Makes a nice pair with the rich star field playing a supporting act.
Image: 15 seconds x 84 frames (1260 seconds total), gain 6584, bin 2x2, Raw 14, black level 99, camera temperature 10.1 deg C, 1 dark. Stacked in SharpCap Pro 3.2.6248.0. The image was stacked and adjusted in SharpCap. The image was scaled down and cropped in GIMP.
Equipment: Celestron CPC-800 at F5.9, Alt-Az mount, Altair Astro Hypercam 294C Pro Cooled (fan), Celestron Focuser, CPWI controlled remotely via Microsoft RDP and ASCOM.
Astrometry: M76 5,600 light years distance, magnitude 10.
The zoomed image below reveals the structure of M76 with a central blue core topped by red with tendrils of red extending into the core. On either side appears to be 'ears' of blue gas with a dark centre.
Using the CPC-800 at F5.9 is good for EAA (shorter exposure, wider field) but small objects suffer from lack of detail. Having said that I was binning 2x2 so I could potentially double the resolution by going to 1x1. Will have to give it a go :-)
