Planetary Nebula NGC2440 in Puppis

(RA 07h 41.9m , Dec. -18°13', 9.4 mag., >14" in diameter)

This faint planetary nebula has noticably bluish disk. It can be found 3°30' S of M46 (see finder chart below).

The above image was taken on November 24, 2000 from Harrowsmith, Ontario. It was a particularly cold night and telescope drive problems prevented me from getting filtered images. After that experience, drive electronics was removed from telescope's base and installed in a heated box! Cookbook 245 LDC camera was used on Celestron Ultima 8 SCT with an eyepiece projection to achieve f20. White exposures (23 x 60 sec.) were combined using AIP4WIN software.

Despite being described as "starlike" in RASC Observer's Handbook, this proved to be a very interestingly structured planetary. Its numerous outer loops resemble those of M76 in Perseus.

Only a quater of the original Cookbook 245 frame is shown. North is to the left.

Map created in Guide 7.0 - 7°45' x 12°. North is up.

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© Jan Wisniewski