The Ant Nebula at 12.8 μm

Image of the Ant Nebula (Mz3) in the narrow-band filter centred at wavelength 12.8 μm. The scale is 0.127 arcsec/pixel and the total field-of-view is 33 x 33 arcsec, with North at the top and East to the left. The total integration time was 200 seconds. Note the diffraction rings around the central star which confirm that the maximum spatial resolution possible with the 8.2-m telescope is being achieved.