Skull in Cetus

[Anth10]

Clear Sky Wednesday,
This object was suggested to me as something to try. I needed to get my star alignment fairly spot on in order to find this from my backyard sky. I managed to get it in the frame which allowed me to snap 93x30sec subs at ISO 1600 with my 10" F5 and V3 Hutech filter + darks/flats.

Always fun to see it take shape in post processing, an interesting Planetry Neb that I'd like to try again one day...

[Atmos]

It looks good Anthony. I tried this once with a 5” refractor... it didn’t go anywhere near as well as this!

[Mickoid]

Love the colours you got in the nebula, this is a great effort from what I imagine is a suburban backyard.Fairly dim object so you've done really well. Haven't seen a lot of these posted in the beginners section, always good to try something different. Looks more like a beach ball though! Nice one Anthony.

[ChrisV]

That's really nice. Great colour and detail. Certainly is an interesting target

[doppler]

Well done that's come up nicely , you gotta love those planetary nebs.

[Anth10]

Thanks Colin, generous comment. The 10" ground mirror does collect the light no doubt, and needed every possible photon to get it to show up.

[Anth10]

Thanks Mickoid, I wasn't really expecting to see much colour and was suprised to reveal some red tinge in the centre of the nebula. The filter does a good job blocking unwanted wavelengths from where I am and a worthy investment. Never to replace the value of imaging under dark skies but hey I'm encouraged to know I can try for similar magnitude objects from home and get a result at least. Beach ball, I guess so. My Son said it looked like a mini Easter egg! I'd say more like a Cooberpedy opal.
Each to their own. Hehehe.

[Anth10]

Thanks Chris.
It caught my attention purely from the name of the nebula - "The Skull", sounds better than NGC246 that's for sure. But upon researching the object it was worth a try considering you don't see it imaged too often. A mate of mine said it was close to the Sculptor which has been a prolific target of late so had to have a go.
The ones posted on this forum from days gone by are very good.

[Anth10]

Cheers doppler, will scan the sky for more of them when they transit in future.:thumbsup:

[RickS]

Nicely done, Anthony.

[Anth10]

Much appreciated Rick,
Thankyou

Here's a rotated close up for a different perspective.