NGC 5189 - Spiral Planetary Nebula

[Dave882]

NGC5189 is a tiny PN in Musca that has been of interest to astronomers since James Dunlop originally classified it as a bright emission nebula in 1826, and then later it was identified as a planetary nebula. It's got a peculiar S-shape which leads us to believe there is a binary central star. Hubble eventually confirmed there are 2 low-ionisation regions moving in opposite directions which suggests a second more recent outburst.

Had a pretty awful time collecting data on this one - for some reason my EAF has not been hitting the mark so have had to do a fair bit of manual focussing to get reasonable data. I need to take it apart and check nothing's slipping. Only 8hrs of acceptable data (after collecting closer to 20!) using the Optolong L-Ultimate (2min subs) and another 1hr in 30sec subs for the stars without a filter. All taken over 4 nights in and around the full moon this month.

Still I think the end result is quite nice and happy with the detail - especially some interesting knots in the Ha and complex patterns in the Oiii. She's a really interesting target and almost resembles one of those traditional Chinese dragons emerging from the ruins of a dying star...

Larger Version (https://storage.googleapis.com/dso-browser.com/astrophotography/picture-84a7fd3af3e714a7b9d4eeda5141c645-original.jpg)

C14 non edge @f7 with the Starizona reducer LF
EQ8 pro
Asi2600mc pro gain-100
Asi220mm / celestron OAG
ZWO EAF
ASIAIR pro / APP / PI

EDIT: Added a snapshot of the Oiii extracted data...probably my favourite of all the views!

Comments welcome! Thanks for having a look!

[Tinderboxsky]

Fantastic result, David. Thanks for sharing.

[Dave882]

Thanks Steve I'm glad you like it!

[Retrograde]

Another great close up Dave! Amazing fine detail. :thumbsup:

[Bodon]

Dave really nice!

[gregbradley]

That's a terrific image Dave.

Greg.

[Startrek]

Dave,
Nice write up about this little gem
Excellent image from the master of PN targets
Well done !!
When are you upgrading to Mono ? It’s certainly worth the time and cost especially under B7 / B8 skies , improved signal fidelity and more flexibility with Narrowband ( I can’t see myself using my 2600MC that much now after using the 2600MM for the past 8 months )

Cheers
Martin

[Dave882]

Thanks Greg, Steve, Pete. Appreciate the comments guys! It's nice to see some of these gems up close...imagine what extra detail we could see if it were as close as the Helix or Dumbbell!

[Dave882]

lol thanks Martin. Certainly didn't feel like a master when I was struggling to get a single sub in focus for a couple of the nights on this target. Not sure about the mono route - it's certainly tempting that's for sure but these 3nm dual band filters are pretty damn good too!!

[TrevorW]

Yep nicely done aperture is the key here :)

[Dave882]

Thanks Trevor. Yep I reckon the c14 is definitely in it’s wheelhouse on targets like this

[strongmanmike]

This is great mate, she's a wee ripper for sure, some great shapes in the detail, Andy (and the late MBJ :sadeyes:) would be well entertained and for some time I recon! :D

Mike

[Dave882]

Cheers Mike

[Ryderscope]

A wonderful tiny object Dave with lots of intriguing detail to grab the observer :thumbsup:

[Dave882]

Thanks very much Rodney! Yes I love the challenge of extracting as much of the intricate detail in these tiny objects. In my opinion it’s worth the time and effort if you’ve got some aperture to work with!

[AlexN]

Mate!

That's phenomenal! 14" of aperture has gone a long way to resolving a hell of a lot of fine detail in there, and the overal image is amazing!

Don't think I've ever seen this target before either... Really nicely done!

[Dave882]

Thank you kindly Alex. It ain’t easy but sometimes you get some targets that really reward the effort at longer fl and the 3nm band-pass data really makes that detail pop

[PRejto]

This is a great image! Tight stars, great colour and the PN is fantastic in detail. Bravo!

Peter

[Dave882]

Thanks very much Peter!