Planetary Nebula – Abell 36

This striking celestial sphere can be found in the Southern Virgo Constellation. It has a bright central star that is getting hotter as it evolves towards its white dwarf phase. It is very bright in the invisible ultraviolet spectrum. The central star has an extremely hot surface that is responsible for ionizing the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the nebula. For us, we get to enjoy a beautiful glowing nebula.

 

The description or name “Planetary Nebula” has nothing to do with planets. Astronomers in the 18th century noted fuzzy round objects that resembled the familiar gas giants found in our solar system. What they had seen through their telescopes were stars in the final stages of its life. They have blown off much of their outer layers revealing the hotter core. The matter blasted into space glows like a neon sign, creating some of the most beautiful objects we can capture in our instruments.

 

I love imaging planetary nebula. They have an interesting mix of colours combined with incredible structures of glowing gases. In my mind, they conjure up visions of translucent crystal structures floating against a backdrop of stars and many far off galaxies.

 

Exposure Details:

Red 14X600 Binned 1X1

Green 21X600 Binned 1X1

Blue 14X600 Binned 1X1

Ha 40X1800 Binned 2X2

OIII 40X1800 Binned 2X2

Total Exposure: 48.1 Hours

 

Instruments:

Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS

Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono

Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900

Focal Length: 2310.00 mm

Pixel size: 9.00 um

Resolution: 0.82 arcsec/pix

 

Thanks for looking

Done