Stellar Shot of the Week
Jon Talbot captured the first color image of this nebula ever taken using his Stellarvue SVX152T. This is Pa J0637.4 +3327 and it is a candidate for a planetary nebula in the constellation Auriga. The object was discovered by the famous and highly successful amateur astronomer Dana Patchick back in December 2018. Pa J0637.4 +3327 consists of a hot star of magnitude 17.19 surrounded by a nebula about 15 arc minutes in diameter. The total extent of the nebula in H-alpha is probably 30 arc minutes or more. If a spectrum confirms that it is a true planetary nebula, then Pa J0637.4 +3327 is an exceptionally large representative of its class, making it additionally a true rarity.
The image was taken from late October 2022 into mid January 2023. It combines 58hrs and 40min of exposure time through RGB, Ha and OIII filters. Jon collaborated with the team of Dana Patchick (Discover), Marcel Dreschler and Xavier Strottner. The image processing and animation was done by Marcel Dreschler and the text explaining the object was provided by him and Xavier Strottner.
Animation:
Image Details
- Optics : Stellarvue SVX 152T refractor @f8 1200mm FL
- Stellarvue SFFX-2 Giant Field Flattener
- Mount: Paramount MYT
- Camera: ZWO ASI6200
- Filters: Chroma 50mm LRGB
- Exposure (min): LRGB 155:160:182:195 11.5 hrs, 2x2 binning
- Automation Control: The Sky X, Voyager, PrimaluceLab Eagle 4
- Guiding: StarlightXpress Lodestar X2
- Processing Software: PixInsight, PS CC, Topaz Labs
- Location: Stark Bayou Observatory, Ocean Springs, MS
- Sky: Typical SQM 19.6-20.1, Bortle 5, Suburban
- Date: 4-18 Nov 2020
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