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Astrophotography by Eddie Guscott

M57 - The Ring Nebula

M57 is a planetary nebula, a shell of gas ejected from a "dying" star, a star which has come to the end of it's nuclear burning life. The faint (mag. 15.4) central star is now on it's way to becoming a planetary sized white dwarf which is gradually cooling and will eventually end up as a very cool black dwarf. The Ring Nebula is situated in the constellation of Lyra at a distance of about 2300 light years and seen in this picture it is accompanied by a faint (mag. 14.4) spiral galaxy IC1296.

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Date/Location:	Corringham, Essex 23 June 2008
Equipment:	8" f/10
Camera/Exposure:	ST2000 CCD camera with Astrodon filters. LRGB total 2 hours
	A clear and steady night just past the Summer Solstice ( a bright sky)

Date/Location:	Corringham, Essex September 2002
Equipment:	12" F4 reflector on Aim Controls EQ2 mount / TTL Filter Wheel
Camera/Exposure:	HX916 ccd camera : L= 8mins (1x1), R= 6mins (2x2), G = 6mins (2x2), B = 6mins (2x2)
Processing:	Calibration, alignment & combining with AIP4WIN, post processed (levels & curves ) in Photoshop 7
Notes:	Tried a bit of deconvolution in AIP4WIN

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