A planetary nebula of most unusual coloration, this very high surface brightness object is 8.8 magnitude and 20 arcseconds (yes arcseconds) in size. The very blue central star is a beacon at 11.1 magnitude. Look closely at the unusual structure seen here. Polar "jets" of material, red here are seen at about 12:30 and 6:30. Light colored internal arcs are around the central star, and pink and yellow colored spots are on the vertexes of the long axis of the object. Yes thats a galaxy off to the right, blue with a hint of a single pink HII region, this is16th magnitude IC4677. This object is shot with a barlow lens to yield f/9, similar in focal length to many of the R/C optical systems many are doing CCD work with today. Faint diffraction spikes can be seen extending from such a brilliant object in this image as well. My diagonal vanes are rotated 45 degrees from most newtonians due to a square tube.

Processing: Photoshop curves and luminance layering were used to preserve the extreme range of brightness and deep coloration of this object.

Instrument:  12.5" f/5 Home made Newtonian with 2" Barlow
Platform:  Astrophysics 1200 QMD
CCD Camera:  SBIG ST7E w/Enhanced Cooling
Exposure:  LRGB = 60:20:20:20 (Synthetic Luminance)
RGB Combine Ratio:  1: .95: 1.8
Filters:  RGB Tricolor
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing FMHW = 2.3 arcsec, Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  15 C
CCD Temperature:  -20 C
Processing:  Maxim DL, Photoshop, AIP4WIN, PW Pro.

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