NGC 246

Click on image for larger version.

NGC 246 is a rather lonely and perhaps large planetary nebula in Cetus. In this example the distorted sphere of gas has many thin and thicker regions giving it an irregular "texture." Like most spherical clouds of gas the outer edges seem brighter than the center which appears void. This is a perspective effect in that more line-of-sight gas is observed towards the outer portions.

Equipment

Meade 16in LX200 telescope operating at f/6.3
SBIG ST8E CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = 42 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 20 minutes binned 3x3
 Green = 20 minutes binned 3x3
 Blue = 40 minutes binned 3x3
  • The central star of this nebula is actually two stars close in angular separation. Most likely line-of-sight, but the pair could be a binary star system? This is why the central star is not quite round.
  • One iteration of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp was applied to the luminance image.

    • Minimum credit line: Alfred Martinez/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 11/2/2000