How to photograph the Ring Nebula (M57)
A tiny, bright smoke ring of gas near Vega.
Photo byESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson(CC BY 4.0)
When to shoot it from your location
About the Ring Nebula
The Ring is small enough that it needs 1,000mm or more to show as more than a dot. It is bright, so short exposures with good seeing work best.
Gear and framing
The Ring Nebula spans about 1.4′ of sky. It frames best with:
- Long focal length (800mm and up)
You can see how other people have built their rigs on RigDesigner, including my Sony a6700 and 60mm refractor rig.
Filters
This target glows in hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III light. A dual-band filter, or separate narrowband filters with a mono camera, lets that light through and blocks most light pollution and moonlight. It is a good choice for city skies and for nights with the Moon up.
Tips
- Use the shortest exposures your setup allows and keep only the sharpest frames.
Processing
Stack your light frames with darks and flats, then remove the background gradient before stretching. AstroBake does all of this for you. Point it at your folders of raw frames, then adjust the result with live sliders.