NGC 1501 – Planetary Nebula in Camelopardalis

: Meade 12” LX850 ACF @ f/8, Orion Atlas EQ-G

Camera: ZWO ASI071 MC Pro, -10C, Gain 200

Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter

Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2

Exposure: 34x240sec, saved as FITS

Darks: 32x240s, saved as FITS

Flats: 32×0.02sec, Tee shirt flats taken at dusk

Average Light Pollution: Bortle 8, poor transparency, haze, good seeing

Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.2 mag/arc-sec^2

Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.

White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic

Software: Nebulosity, Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop

NGC 1501 is a gorgeous planetary nebula in Camelopardalis. This is a great example of how well this telescope can perform when the seeing is good. This brings my check-out of this telescope to an end. Lesson learned; when the seeing is poor I may be better off using one of my faster wide field scopes, but when the seeing is good this telescope can do an excellent job capturing fine details in small targets.

NGC 1501 is currently well placed high in the northeast after sunset and it high overhead by 9 o’clock. Glowing faintly at magnitude 11.9 it can be a bit of a challenge, but shows well in a modest size telescope, say 10” or larger.