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Hello!
Abell 31 (Sharpless 290, PK 219+31.1) is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Cancer. It is one of the largest (17'x17'), twice as large as M27, but with very low brightness (magnitude 15.5 compared to 7.4 for M27).
I started the capture with Ha, on February 27, in the moonlight (90%). In the 10m "autostretch" frames, a part of the nebula could hardly be seen. During the next 5 nights of the capture, nothing could be seen of it, due to the fog and thin veil of clouds at high altitude. The SNR was only slightly increased with these frames.
For OIII I only had only one night, on March 9th (6 hours), and it was far from a great night. The signal was still higher in this band. I've been waiting for the weather to get better so I can squeeze in at least another 10 hours for OIII and Ha, plus about 2 hours for RGB, but there's little hope for a clear sky. It's so hard to do anything in this season.
So, the image is a HOO combination, with a total exposure of 23 hours and 50 minutes. Setup: Omegon 203/800, GPU corrector, ASI 1600MM.
Clear skies!
Jim Thommes Jim's Astrophotography
David Levy Maksutov Newtonian, Celestron Edge 9.25, FSQ-106N Refractor (on loan), WO ZenithStar 66 APO Refractor, WO Megrez II APO, Sigma 150 mm EOS Lens
Losmandy G11/Gemini, iOptron GEM45, Celestron Advanced VX, iOptron CEM70
ST8300M Camera, Atik 383L, Canon 350D (IR cut modified), ASI1600M, ASI294M, ASI260M
Observatory - Desert Astronomy Association (Shelter Valley, CA)
great image of a target I dont think I've seen very often.
Scope: Skywatcher Evostar 80ED (SW 0.85 FR/FF) on a SW NEQ6Pro
Guiding; SW Evoguide 50ED, ASI 120mm mini
Meade 8" LX200 GPS on wedge (Guided with a cheapo 50mm guidescope and a ZWO ASI 120mm mini)
Sharpstar 61EDPH II (with dedicated 0.8 reducer) with wiliam Optics 32mm uniguide
Camera: ASI2600MC pro. QHY 163M with ZWO 7nm NB filters, Canon EOS700D astro mod
Secondary mount: Skywatcher StarAdventurer
