M 46 and ngc 2438 in Puppis
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A very nice open cluster in the winter milky way with a nice little planetary companion. The planetary nebula is does not appear to be related to
the cluster. M46 is about one degree from M47 making the pair a nice target in binoculars. On the right edge of the image is the small but very colorful
cluster ngc 2425. With a wide field, this little cluster is about midway between M46 and M47.
 Telescope Explore Scientific David H. Levy Comet Hunter Maksutov-Newtonian 152mm f/4.8 mounted piggyback on Meade LX 200 Classic 12 inch
Camera Canon XT/350d modified with Baader type 1 filter by Hap Griffin
Exposure  34 ninety-second sub-esposures at iso 800
 Guiding  PHD Guide from Stark labs with Meade DSI pro I on Meade 12-inch LX 200 Classic at f/3.3
 Software  Images acquired, calibrated, stacked and color corrected with Nebulosity 2.2.4 from Stark Labs. Further processing in Photoshop CS 3.
on-line links to more information    for more information try http://seds.org/messier/m/m046.html

Julian, California - March 14, 2010