The Helix Nebula is one of the largest-appearing planetary nebulae, spanning more than half the diameter of the full moon on the sky. It appears so large because it is relatively close at about 700 light-years away. The Helix nebula is located in the constellation Aquarius and is cataloged as NGC 7293 and Caldwell 63.

For a description of the process that forms planetary nebulae, see the Dumbbell Nebula.

176 minutes on 2012-11-22 and 160 minutes on 2012-11-26 using an Astrodon 3 nm H-a filter (blended with RGB for L) and 132 minutes RGB binned 2x2 on 2013-11-01 using a QSI 583 from Northern New Jersey through an Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f7.1. North is up. ©2013

This black-and-white image records the light emitted by glowing hydrogen gas in the nebula.

A total of 336 minutes on 2012-11-22 and 2012-11-26 using an Astrodon 3 nm H-a filter using a QSI 583 from northern New Jersey through an Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f7.1. North is up. ©2012