Abell 31 – Sh2-290 from my own „Sterntaucher“ observatory

In 2018, I captured images of the planetary nebula Abell 31, located in the constellation Cancer. This large and faint nebula is one of the oldest known planetary nebulae, its delicate shell of ionized gas expanding into the surrounding interstellar medium.

For this project, I used a dual setup: Hα and [O III] data were acquired with my 10” Newtonian telescope, while the RGB frames were taken with my small apochromatic refractor. The RGB data were later upscaled to match the narrowband resolution for integration.

Data calibration, registration, and final image processing were all performed using PixInsight.

The result was as follows:

The images were taken with the following equipment:

• Location: Krefeld, Germany
• Telescope: 10″ Newton ohne Namen – TSQ-65ED Apo
• Focal length [mm]: 1000 – 420
• Focal ratio: 3.9 – 6.5
• Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
• Camera: Moravian G2 8300 FW – Moravian G3 16200 FW
• Filter: Hα:[OIII] – R:G:B
• Exposure time [min]: 180:295 – 120:150:80
• Resolution: 1.11″/px – 2.95″/px