Ngc3699 Pn

[Ric]

Hi all, last night I was taking advantage of the clear skies and was hunting around Carina and Cantaurus for something a little different to image when I came accross this little Planetary Nebula in Centaurus.

It is NGC3699 listed at mag 14.0 and described by Dreyer as "bright, pretty large and irregular". It has what I describe as a dust lane through it which reminds me of a mini Centaurus A galaxy.

This image was taken through the LX200R/ACF in Alt/Az with the DSI II pro at f/3.3 using Envisage in Drizzle mode.

The image is a series of 63 subs x 21 seconds for a total of 22 minutes exposure.

Cheers

PS: forgot to add I was also using a 13nm Ha filter.

[Dennis]

Hi Ric

That is a good capture of the faint fella! I’m surprised at how much you have managed to grab in Alt-Az mode – makes the hard work of auto guiding almost seem redundant!

What does /ACF mean in terms of the the LX200?

Cheers

Dennis

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Hi Ric. Interesting PN - the dark lane is clearly visible. I'm interested in how you set up the Drizzle mode? Did you have the telescope being repositioned by Envisage to make a wider mosaic or was it for de-rotation?

Peter

[Ric]

Hi Dennis, thankyou for your comments.

The ACF means "advanced coma free" as Meade now call their LX200R's as a result of civil action taken by RCOS.

Cheers

[Ric]

Hi Peter, because I image in Alt/Az for the moment I use Drizzle mode for de-rotation.

The settings are

Drizzle Resolution 1.0
Extended view 1.5 - 1.7
Pixel Fraction 0.9 - 1.0

I try to keep the tracking boxes on two bright stars and within the middle two thirds of the view screen.

I also "synch" the scope with the object using Star Atlas Pro to keep the tracking accurate as possible.

Cheers

[EzyStyles (Eric)]

nice one Ric! i remember taking this PN not long ago and also though it was the Mini-Centaurus-A. well resolve image.

[Dietmar]

very interesting object and well imaged, ric.

[Tamtarn]

Looks like it's not an easy target Ric.

You have done well to resolve this image so nicely.

[jase (Jason)]

Great to see something off the beaten path Ric. Hope to see some of your Ha adventures again. Thanks for sharing.

[Ric]

Thanks everyone for your kind replys, they are very appreciated.

The evenings now seem to be getting clearer and cooler and hopefully I be able to get some more imaging in and improve my skills, it has been a lean few months lately.

Cheers

[Garyh]

Nice one Ric! very faint stuff there!
Just wondering if that is coma in your image? as a result of using a f/3.3 reducer?

[Ric]

Hi Gary, It could be The f/3.3 FR I have been thinking about experimenting with the extensions which can increase it to f/4.0 or f/5.5 as my other options.

I noticed that this also occurs when imaging between 20-30 seconds in Alt/Az which is my upper limit without a wedge.

Cheers