SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Jon Greif
Location of Photo:
Alpine, CA, USA
Date/Time of photo:
January 18-24, 2026 between 5:30 and 9:30 pm PST
Equipment:
TS-Optics 8" f/4 ONTC Newtonian Telescope, 10Micron GM1000HPS Mount, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, ZWO Ha, Oiii and Sii filters, MoonLite focuser, NINA acquisition software and Pixinsight processing software.
Description:
Sh2-216 (also known as Sharpless 216) is an ancient planetary nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is the closest planetary nebula to Earth, at a distance of approximately 420 light-years. Sh2-216 is very old, with an estimated age of roughly 600,000 years. Due to its advanced age, the nebula is extremely faint and highly dispersed, covering an angular diameter more than three times the width of the full Moon, much wider than I can fit in my 8 inch telescope. Its nature as a planetary nebula was proposed in 1981 based on gas emission line ratios. This image was created from 15 hours of exposure over 5 nights and processed in Hubble Palette (SHO).
