Combination of 10, 1 minute images.
SBIG ST-8E CCD. 30" f/5 newtonian at prime focus.
NGC 2392 is a small, but bright planetary nebula in Gemini. It is a very easy object in an 8" telescope. The name "Eskimo Nebula", derives from the appearence in a moderate-sized telescope. There is a bright centre and central star, surrounded by a fainter glow that has several brighter patches. The appearence is likened to a face surrounded by a fur hood, like an eskimo. The planetary is also known as the "Clown-Face Nebula". This name is given by those who see the central star as the large ball-nose of a clown.
This structure can be seen to some extent in the images below. These are identical images to the one above, but have been processed differently to show different structure within the nebula.
This image was the result of some experimentation with using a barlow lens on the telescope to increase the focal length. Mainly I was wanting to check if the tracking would be sufficiently precise to imaeg at the longer focal length. One of the main difficulties I found was in finding a suitable guide star. This is why the object is so close to the top of the image!
