2019, Nebula

Planetary Nebula M97 with the Vixen VC200L telescope

Posted on by Shawn Nielsen
M97 planetary nebula

Meet planetary nebula M97, aka the Owl Nebula. 

This image took me three nights to collect the data due to clouds.

M97 is more than 2000 years away from Earth. The photons of the Owl Nebula are ancient but not the most distant object I’ve imaged.

To take this image I used a Vixen VC200L modified cassegrain telescope (on loan from KWtelescope.com), a QHY168C cooled cmos OSC camera and an Optolong L-eNhance dual narrowband filter.

Check out my video below for more on how I captured M97!

 

My astro gear:

Skywatcher Esprit 100 F5.5 Triplet refractor telescope http://bit.ly/36w1F7Y

Moravian G3 16200EC CCD w/ 5 position FW http://bit.ly/2PL0qvK

William Optics Zenithstar APO refractor telescope http://bit.ly/2JRM1tR

QHY168C 16mp cooled cmos camera http://bit.ly/2NkkKTb

Optolong L-R-G-B 2″ filters http://bit.ly/32a9Gfu

Optolong L-eNhance filter http://bit.ly/32a9Gfu

Optolong L-pro filter http://bit.ly/32a9Gfu

Triad Quadband Ultra Filter http://bit.ly/2CbQXWh

Skywatcher EQ mount http://bit.ly/2C9lap1

Skywatcher Star Adventurer http://bit.ly/2C9Fwyi

Pegasus Astro Focus Cube http://bit.ly/2qonGow

Orion Starshoot Autoguider http://bit.ly/34z6pbh

Shawn Nielsen
Shawn Nielsen

My story began more than 40 years ago looking up at the Moon with a small collapsible telescope my Father had. Encouraged by my parents, who bought me my very own telescope, a 4.5" reflector, I began to explore the night sky from my family home backyard. Today I do astrophotography from my home in Kitchener, Ontario and also with remote telescopes located in New Mexico and Australia. Some of my images have won awards and have been featured online and in magazines.

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