Not much is written about Abell 45 (PK 020-00 1, PN G020.2-00.6) located in the southern constellation of Scutum. It has an interesting morphology resembling an old wagon wheel, therefore nicknamed "the Wagon Wheel Nebula" by
Jerryyyyy back in 2021.
Abell 45 is not often imaged and most astrophotographers claim that there is no Oiii emission. However, after 14h exposure @ f/2 the Oiii signal is very evident, although weak, centered within the wheel and with some diffuse clouds to the south-west.
Even though the Hyperstar lens reduces the focal length of the Edge14" to merely 700 mm, the excellent 62mpix camera together with the high number of frames made the process of drizzling quite successful. With Abell 45 being only about 300 arcsec in diameter, I am really happy with the detail in the image.
All exposures are unguided 120s at f/2 and binned 1x1. A
dynamic combination of Ha and Oiii was used, introducing more orange-yellow than a normal HOO-palette does. Image is cropped and drizzled.
8h Ha
14h Oiii
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