Combination of 2, 3 minute exposures, Meade 416XTE CCD.
300mm f/6 newtonian prime focus.
Situated in the tail of the Scorpion not far from the bright star Shaula, (the end star in the sting) is a curious object, NGC 6302, more commonly known as "the Bug Nebula". This is a planetary nebula , most likely in the form of a ring seen edge-on. It is quite a bright object and very easy to observe in a 6" telescope. It would probably be better known if it were not in a region containing so many excellent deep-sky objects.
Sometimes I think I am cursed when imaging this object..... every time I try, clouds intervene! :-( The above image is no exception. It was supposed to be the start of a colour image, however I was only part-way through obtaining the lunimance data when clouds started to appear, forcing an end to observations. In an effort to make up for the lost colour data, I combined the above image with a colour image I did obtain in 2005 with an 8" telescope. (see here). This image is shown below.
As an experiment, it seemed to work reasonably well. It would have been better however if the unfiltered data had not been compromised by the thickening cloud.
