NGC457 and Sharpless 2-188 - The Owl Cluster and Dolphin Nebula
with 10" f/3.9 Astrograph
Uploaded 10/2/25

 

            
A perfect pairing of
            two vastly different objects here in an incredibly dense Milky
            Way starfield in Cassiopiea. The "Owl Cluster" on the
            left (NGC457) sports hordes of gorgeous blue suns, sprinkled
            with a few golden in hue. On the right is the "Dolphin Nebula"
            (Sh2-188) a planetary nebula with the bright part shaped like
            a leaping cetean. Note the extensive diffuse glow on its southern
            end. Also see that the top of the field is composed of mostly
            yellow stars, and the bottom is blue. That is due to a lot of
            interstellar dust in the top half.

            
Technical Data: 10"
            f/3.9 Newtonian astrograph, Atik 16200 CCD, HaRGB = 4 hours total,
            Payson, Az.

            
Select an image size for a larger view:

1600 x 1290


Instrument:  10" f/3.9 Orion Astrograph Newtonian with Baader MPCC
Mount:  Astrophysics 1200 QMD
CCD Camera:  ATIK 16200 
Guider: ASI290  w/80mm WO Zenithstar 81 piggyback refractor
Exposure:  4 hours HaRGB
Astronomik  RGB Combine Ratio:  1: 1.05: 1.5
Location:  Payson, Arizona, Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing FWHM = 3 arcsec , Transparency 9/10
Outside Temperature:  65 F
CCD Temperature:  -30 C
Image Processing Tools: 
Maxim DL6:  Calibration, PixInsight:  All Remaining processing, Photoshop CS2: Production finishing 

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