M57 - The Ring Nebula

M57, also known as the Ring Nebula is the gaseous remnants of the outer layers of a star blown away as it convulsed and collapsed at the end of its nuclear-burning life. This type of nebula is quite common and is known as a "planetary nebula" because it could quite easily be mistaken by an uninformed observer as a planet due to its round shape and apparent size. The remaining core of the original star shines in the center of the nebula and is a planet-sized white dwarf which was probably similar in size to our sun during its nuclear-burning lifetime. M57 lies at a distance of approximately 2300 light years from Earth. Also in the image, is the very much more distant barred-spiral galaxy known as IC 1296 which is located 221 Milliion light years away from Earth.

Image acquisition and processing information:

Date: July 12th, 2021
Telescope: Celestron Edge HD 14" telescope - Focal Ratio: F11
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-1200 GTO CP3
Camera: ZWO ASI-6200 MM Pro monochrome camera equipped with a Baader UFC 2" Filter Slider
Image acquisition software: Sequence Generator Pro v. 3.0.3.169
Exposures: 10 two-minute exposures binned 3x3 using a IR/UV cut filter for luminance, 7 two-minute exposures each binned 3x3 using red, green and blue filters
Guiding: Telescope: Guided through the imagaing scope using ONAG SC on-axis guider using a ZWO ASI-183 MM Pro guiding camera also binned 3x3
Image processing Software: PixInsight v. 1.8.6