This is the Helix Nebula taken on the evening of September 28. The Helix Nebula is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. It was discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824, this object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae. The distance is 655±13 light-years. So, to put that in perspective, when the light I photographed left the nebula that was about the time the Black Death was raging across Europe… hmmmmm.

This is about 3 light years across and is just over 10,000 years old. This was 15 x 240 second exposures with supporting files.