| M 57 [ Click for Cropped Image ] M57 the Ring Nebula is located in the constellation Lyra, between the bottom two stars b & y Lyra that form a parallelogram below Vega. The Ring is one of the best known nebulas. The gas clouds that form this spectacular ring were thrown off by the magnitude 15.31 central star. The nebula itself is has only a total brightness of magnitude 9. It is about the same size as Jupiter when viewed through telescope with a size of only 2.5' arc minutes. It requires 6-8 inch scope to see it as a small smoke ring. To see the central star usually require a 10" or larger telescope. M57 also know as NGC 6720 is about 2,150 Light Years from Earth. |
| Telescope / Lens | 11 Celestron SCT |
| Mount Type | Astro-Physics 1200 |
| Camera | SBIG ST8XME, Astrodon Filters |
| Filters | Astrodon E-Series HaLRGB |
| Film | CCD |
| Exposure | Total Exsposure -105 minutes; Ha,L, & RGB- binned 2x2 |
| Processing | CCDSoft 5, AIP4WIN 2.0, Photoshop CS2, |
| Date | 09-21-2007 |
| Location | June Mountain,
near Eagles Rest, South of Dexter, Oregon |
| Conditions | 3232' magnitude 6.2 Skies; Clear & Steady |