This image shows NGC 6543, the famous Cat’s Eye Nebula, one of the most complex and detailed planetary nebulae in the night sky.

At the center lies the bright inner nebula, filled with intricate layers of glowing gas shaped by the final stages of a dying Sun-like star. Surrounding it are faint outer shells and delicate structures created by multiple episodes of mass loss over thousands of years. The strong blue-green color comes mainly from ionized oxygen, giving the nebula its characteristic appearance.

To reveal the extremely fine details in the core, I captured the center separately using lucky imaging. Integrating this high-resolution data into the original deep-sky image was very difficult, especially because of the huge brightness difference between the bright inner region and the faint outer halo. Blending both datasets naturally while preserving detail and smooth transitions took a lot of work, but it allowed the inner structure of the nebula to stand out far more clearly.

Data:
Location: Upper Austria

Capture date: April/May 2026

Lights (Gain 139, -15°, Binning 1x1)
Red: 30x180s
Green: 30x180s
Blue: 30x180s
OIII: 42×360s
Halpha: 146×360s
Darks: 5x20
Bias: 50
Flats: 5x25
Darkflats: 5x25

Equipment:
Telescope:
Skywatcher 200PDS

Camera:
ZWO ASI1600MM - Cool

Filter:
Baader 31mm Ha 6.5nm
Baader 31mm OIII 6.5nm
Baader 31mm Red
Baader 31mm Green
Baader 31mm Blue

Filter wheel:
ZWO EFW 8x 31mm

Corrector:
GPU Coma Corrector

Mount:
Skywatcher EQ6R Pro

Guiding:
ZWO OAG with ZWO ASi290mm and PHD2

Software:
Astro Pixel Processor, Pixinsight, Adobe Photoshop