NGC 2427, Cometary Globules, and Dust

NGC 2427, Cometary Globules, and Dust

 

This is a busy scene containing a range of objects. The foreground is full of dust, cometary globules, and a barred galaxy that looks to be enveloped in dust. But in reality, the dust is in front of the galaxy. If you look carefully, many tiny galaxies can be seen behind the thick foreground dust and backdrop of colourful stars. Remember that all the colourful stars and dust seen in this image are part of our galaxy. The galaxies are very far away.

 

Cometary globules are fascinating structures found within interstellar clouds of gas and dust. These globules are typically small, dark, and compact, resembling comets in shape. They have a head-like structure pointing away from a nearby bright star and a tail-like extension trailing behind. The head of the globule is usually denser and contains concentrations of gas and dust. At the same time, the tail is formed by material being eroded and blown away by the intense radiation and stellar winds from nearby stars.

 

NGC 2427, on the other hand, is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Puppis, approximately 33 million light-years away from Earth. As a galaxy, NGC 2427 is a vast collection of stars, gas, and dust bound together by gravity. It exhibits a central bar-shaped structure surrounded by spiral arms extending outward from the bar's ends. These spiral arms are regions of active star formation, where new stars are born from the gravitational collapse of gas and dust.

 

While cometary globules and NGC 2427 are different astronomical objects, they contribute to our understanding of the cosmos. Cometary globules offer insights into the processes of star formation and the interaction between young stars and their surrounding environment, while galaxies like NGC 2427 provide valuable information about the structure, evolution, and dynamics of the universe on a larger scale.

 

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

 

 

Exposure Details:

Red 20 X 600 B1

Green 22 X 600

Blue 22 X 600

Lum 50 X 900

Total Exposure 23.15 hours

 

 

Total Exposure: 24.5 Hours

 

Thanks for looking

 

 

******** ASTROMETRIC SOLUTION RESULTS ********

From cropped area 1002 x 668

Center RA (2000.0): 07h 37m 20.49s

Center Dec (2000.0): -47° 48' 13.9"

Scale: 0.8040 arcseconds/pixel

Size (pixels): 4008 x 2672

Angular Size: 0° 53' 42" x 0° 35' 48"

Position Angle: 52° 52' from north through east

Mirror Image: No

RMS: 0.42 (X: 0.19 Y: 0.37)

Number of Stars Used in Solution: 40 (100%)

FWHM: 2.89 pixels, 2.33 arcseconds

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Done