The incredible halos of the Ghost of Jupiter

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

This is an image that took me a while to process. The target is NGC 3242, the popular "Ghost of Jupiter" planetary nebula that is a pretty bright but small object in Hydra. While the planetary nebula's core measure only about 16" x 26" in diameter, NGC 3242 is surrounded by a first fainter shell approximately 3' in diameter and by another very faint giant halo measuring about half degree in diameter, same as the full Moon, with a prominent arc containing both strong emissions of Ha and OIII. This huge halo was first discovered on the Palomar DSS plates and later confirmed to be related to the planetary nebula itself.

NGC 3242 Ghost of Jupiter

There are rare images in the web showing the external shells that are extremely faint and unknown to most observers. Unfortunately I didn't manage to capture any luminance data so the base color image is a bit "graney" and it's a pity, considering the abundance of small galaxies in the background. I will collect this light next season to fix this problem. What on the other side add a lot to the image is the long exposures through both Ha and OIII totalling about 17.5 hours of light that permits the halos to pop out. I also took some short RGB images of the core to permit an HDR blending, not so easy due to the extreme difference of brightness between the core itself and the remaining nebulosity.

I hope you will like this one and perhaps to show something new to some of you
As usual a view of the full resolution version is highly recommended.

Clear skies
Marco

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Wonderful image Marco and intriguing, I never knew that faint outer stuff existed and you look to have captured it very well.

Excellent work ...and the stars look perfect

Mike

[dvj (John)]

Your color work is exceptional. Top of the class IMO.

jg

[ozstronomer (Geoff)]

Great shot Marco, top image all round

[multiweb (Marc)]

Super vista Marco. You are the king of color.

[gregbradley]

What a wonderful image and a brand new item of interest. You are great at picking up these unusual items.

Brilliant.

Greg.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Wow, great image. Didn't even know that was there.

I reckon a few of the other top shooters here would like a go at that now too.

[RobF (Rob)]

Wonderful stuff, and had no idea the clouds existed. Thanks for fueling the imagination on a Sat morning Marco!

[Paul Haese]

It's a very deep image with great colour. It presents on my iPad as being a little dark, but I am sure it is just the screen. It is rather interesting how DSO imaging is producing very deep results and in quite a few cases deeper than previously seen before in an object. So there is more ground to be broken for amateurs if they spend the time collecting on a rarely imaged object. Well done Marco, just another thing to add to my ever increasing imaging list.

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Great image Marco. Well done.

[Nortilus (Josh)]

stunning...great image...

[Tony_ (Tony)]

Great image - I've only seen one other image showing this halo - but yours is far better!
Apparently these outer halos around PNs are common - but rarely imaged. The halo certainly adds a lot more to the PN.

[marco (Marco Lorenzi)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Wonderful image Marco and intriguing, I never knew that faint outer stuff existed and you look to have captured it very well.

Excellent work ...and the stars look perfect

Mike

thanks Mike, happy you liked it as got out from the oven

Originally Posted by dvj

Your color work is exceptional. Top of the class IMO.

jg

Thanks John, good quality fits under the dark sky of Coona makes the job of color balancing much easier

Originally Posted by ozstronomer

Great shot Marco, top image all round

Thanks Geoff

Originally Posted by multiweb

Super vista Marco. You are the king of color.

Thanks Mark! Happy you like the colors of this composition

Originally Posted by gregbradley

What a wonderful image and a brand new item of interest. You are great at picking up these unusual items.

Brilliant.

Greg.

Thanks Greg, I wish I could have your 17" on this one, a good target for you as the object is positioned right in the sky

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

Wow, great image. Didn't even know that was there.

I reckon a few of the other top shooters here would like a go at that now too.

Thanks for your appreciation Kevin, I hope so!

Originally Posted by RobF

Wonderful stuff, and had no idea the clouds existed. Thanks for fueling the imagination on a Sat morning Marco!

Thanks Rob

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

It's a very deep image with great colour. It presents on my iPad as being a little dark, but I am sure it is just the screen. It is rather interesting how DSO imaging is producing very deep results and in quite a few cases deeper than previously seen before in an object. So there is more ground to be broken for amateurs if they spend the time collecting on a rarely imaged object. Well done Marco, just another thing to add to my ever increasing imaging list.

Thanks Paul, the image look ok on my (win) monitor, however mac's tends to be a bit more contrasted.. I agree with you, trying to push our own images and going out of the common path is lots of fun

Originally Posted by peter_4059

Great image Marco. Well done.

Thanks Peter

Originally Posted by Nortilus

stunning...great image...

Thanks Josh!

Originally Posted by Tony_

Great image - I've only seen one other image showing this halo - but yours is far better!
Apparently these outer halos around PNs are common - but rarely imaged. The halo certainly adds a lot more to the PN.

Thanks Tony, I looked around and found only a (excellent) image taken from an amateur (Wolfgang Prompter) with a 16", I would love to find other examples of these halos taken by other amateurs if you can point me to..

Clear skies
Marco

[Tony_ (Tony)]

The image I saw of ngc3242 was a while ago and I can't find it now - from memory I think it was taken with a modded dslr?
There are few amateur images of the halos around M27 & M57.
Apparently there are halos around a lot of PNs - not sure how many of them have been imaged by amateurs and I can't find any lists - but if you like to photograph these more obscure objects it is worth more research. These type of images are outside my capability.


Regards,
Tony.

[dutch2 (Ingrid)]

Stunning image, beautiful colours.
Very impressive.

[David Fitz-Henr]

Beautiful image Marco; a wonderful capture of the extended halo!

[LewisM]

Superb.

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Wow you have done it again Marco, absolutely incredible image. I never knew the Ghost of Jupiter had such a halo, that is a great find.
I'm sure it will look even more spectacular if you gather more luminance as you say, it's definitely a target worth pursuing further - although your current image is already excellent.

[RickS (Rick)]

A lovely, deep image, Marco! Thanks for the view of something new.

[rustigsmed (Russell)]

Sounds like some difficult processing!

But as usual you've pulled it off!

I also agree with Paul re:amateurs imaging rarely imaged objects.

Cheers

Russell