Douglas J. Struble caught this brilliant image of Hartl-Dengel-Weinberger 3 in Perseus with his SVX102T. Hartle-Dengel-Weinberger 3 (HDW 3, PK149-09.1, PN G149.4-09.2) is a Planetary Nebula that is large, highly evolved and extremely faint, with very low surface brightness. The central star (which is the faint blue star near the center of the nebula arc) is designated WD 0322+452. Its distinctive braided shape is the result of planetary nebula colliding with the interstellar gas around it as the nebula moves through the galaxy. This causes the shock front to be brighter as it's getting more ultraviolet radiation, whereas the opposite side of HDW 3 is getting less UV radiation and has become invisible.
Image Credit: Douglas J. Struble at Future World Media
According to Douglas:
"This is my last image for 2023. Spent two years collecting data because this time of year yields very few clear nights here in Michigan. I would love to capture even more, but that is obviously not in the cards."
Details:
Integration Time: 75h 39′
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 8.00
Completion Date: 12-31-23
Location: Taylor, MI (EST) USA
Imaging Telescope: Stellarvue SVX102T-R
Aperture: 102mm
Camera: ASI183MM-PRO
Filters: Astronomik Deep-Sky RGB and Astrodon Ha & OIII
Software: SGP, PHD2, PixInsight & Photoshop CC