Telescope: Astro-Tech 8” f/8 Ritchey-Chretien, Orion Atlas EQ-G
Camera: Canon EOS Ra, Baader Mk III MPCC
Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter
Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, Starlight Xpress Super Star, PHD2
Exposure: 30x120sec, ISO 800, saved as RAW
Darks: Internal (Long Exposure Noise Reduction On)
Flats: 32×1/125sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk
Average Light Pollution: Red zone, Bortle 8, poor transparency
Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.4
Stacking: Mean with a 1-sigma clip.
White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic
Software: Backyard EOS, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop
M46 is one of several relatively bright open clusters that grace the evening sky in winter. This cluster also sports a beautiful little planetary nebula (NGC 2438) in the foreground. This little nebula looks quite stunning in a modest size telescope with the rich open cluster in the background. I first found M46 with my homemade 10” f/6.7 Newtonian during a Messier Marathon at JB in 1978. I’ll never forget seeing the little planetary nebula in the foreground, it was so neat!
M46 is currently rising in the east at sunset.
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