Object Information:               NGC 7293 (The Helix Nebula),                                                    Mag. - 7.3v                                                    Constellation - Aquarius                                                    Distance -  Estimated to be less than 300 light years, Description:  NGC 7293 is commonly believed to be the nearest planetary nebula to us at approximately 300 light years .  It is a large object [approximately 1/2 the apparent size of the new moon] that can be seen with binoculars from a dark sky site.  This object consists of a large shell of very tenuous gas that is caused to glow by the radiation emanating from the very hot central star. Imaged at:                                San Diego Astronomy Association Site in Tierra Del Sol, San Diego County, California.                                                    Elevation - 4000 feet Equipment:                             Optics - Takahashi E-160 at f/3.3                                                    Mount - Losmandy G-11,                                                    Camera - Santa Barbara Instrument Group (SBIG) ST-7  CCD, Exposure Information:         July 21, 2001                                                    A sum of 6 stacked exposures of 15 minutes each for a total exposure time of 90 minutes, Image Acquisition Software:       SBIG CCDOps for DOS utilizing self guiding feature, Image Processing:    All data frames were calibrated  with: 1) a master bias frame created from the median combination of 10 library bias frames; 2) a master dark frame created from the median combination of four (4) dark frames of the same exposure time and temperature as the data frames; and 3)  a normalized median combination of six (6) flat field frames with an average pixel value of approximately 16,000 counts. Image Processing Software:        AIP Windows - image calibration, registering of images.  MIRA AP - image stacking.