NGC 2440 PN, my best yet

[tornado33]

Hi
Just finished taking and processing NGC 2440.
10 inch f5.6 Newtonian, off axis hand guided with q guider cam and guidestar on laptop monitor
Modded 350D
Idas uv/ir and Baader UHC-S filter, Baader MPCC coma corrector
near full moon.
Image is 6x5 mins ISO 400, masked with 8x2 mins ISO 200.
Ive included a full frame downsized image and a full resolution crop.
Was sooo nice to see clear skies, though some cirrus cloud patches were about.
Scott

[Tamtarn]

Totally agree Scott. That's a ripper :2thumbs::2thumbs:

[Ric]

Well done Scott that's a classic.

You've done a fine job with that one.

Cheers

[citivolus]

Nice, that's one I'll have to have a look at :)

[glenc]

The detail in that PN is stunning Scott!

[Alchemy]

detail detail detail, yep youve got some there.

[iceman]

Incredible resolution - the seeing must've been good!

Well done!

[tornado33]

Thanks all.
Yes it was quite high in the sky, I very carefully checked focus, and guided it as carefully as possible. The comatic guidestar was about the length of a small fingernail on the monitor, would make it hard to guide by looking through the guidescope but easier on the monitor, I just aim to keep it still, making fast or slow corrections to do so.
Scott

[theodog]

Nice one Scott.
Plenty of detail, I will add this to my list.
Well done.

[Garyh]

Excellent Scott! beautifully resolved and nice colors.
and all under the near full moon to boot....:)
cheers Gary

[tornado33]

Thanks all
its well worth imaging.
Scott

[h0ughy]

yes an understatement

compare Mr Alders shot with this http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n2440.html

20in RC Optical Systems telescope Operating at f/8.4 Paramount ME Robotic Telescope Mount SBIG ST10XME CCD camera.

LOL so is bigger always better .......;)

[EzyStyles]

great shot scott, i know how hard this object is and you've captured alot of inner details. well done.

[tornado33]

Many thanks
Ive looked online and am suprised to find very few images of it apart from the HST image. It is not that big but surprisingly bright.
The centre is very bright compared to the rest, I had to use masking to stop it becoming a burnt out mass. Whats amazing is seeing it so bright and colourful even on the raw subs before processing.
It would be a readily visible visual object too, trouble is with the cloudy weather Im always so desparate to photograph, I dont have the time to take off the camera and put an eyepiece on :)
Scott

[tornado33]

Heres a x2 upsampled version using Drizzle. More detail particularily in the core
Scott