Full size image:

https://britastro.org/observations/userimg/20250501_184814_d89b366ea28a.png

NP LoTr 5, PK339+88.1, is Callum's challenge image of the month. A difficult challenge, it's very, very faint. The northernmost known NP.

Many hours of data are required to capture it. In a sky with an average Bortle 4.5 at the observatory on my terrace, I used an Optolong L-eNhance duoband filter, which is less restrictive than the L-eXtreme filter from the same brand, especially in the blue-green area, including the OIII and Hbeta bands.

Captured with a modern Sony IMX676 sensor with 2-micrometer pixels, very low read noise and zero discharge glare, which, to top it all off, works spectacularly well without cooling.

The images were taken with SharpCap software from April 24th to 30th, and fully processed with Pixinsight and its latest tools.

The total integration time is 27 hours, 460 frames of 120s without binning and 350 frames of 120s with 2x binning and 2x drizzle.

The NP appears surrounded by Ha clouds, which I chose not to highlight too much in order to better highlight the blue-green nebula.

Clouds and rain are returning to southern Spain, but I hope to collect more LoTr 5 data as soon as possible to better define the details of it and its surroundings.