NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula

NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. Planetary nebulas are remnants of a star at the end of it's life. A star similar to our Sun. It blows off it's outer shells forming the nebula. The core of the star collapses to form a dense hot white dwarf. The radiation from the white dwarf excites the gas in the nebula causing it to glow. (NASA Science)

The white dwarf can be seen at the center of the blue core of the nebula.

Image processed by Andrew Macica, original data from Telescope Live.

Imaging Details:

Observatory: Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile

Telescope: Planewave CDK24

Aperture: 610 mm (24 inches), f/6.5

Focal Length: 3962 mm

Camera: QHY 600M Pro CMOS

Filters: LRGB

Total Exposure: 8 hours 35 min.

Image Processing: PixInsight 1.8.9-3 Ripley (x64);

BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator (RC Astro);

Adobe Photoshop 25.12.1;

Adobe Lightroom Classic 14.2

Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.