View allAll Photos Tagged PlanetaryNebula
NGC 3132 (also known as the Eight-Burst Nebula or the Southern Ring Nebula), is a bright planetary nebula in the constellation Vela. Its distance from Earth is estimated at about 2,000 light-years
The Southern Ring Nebula was selected as one of the five cosmic objects observed by the James Webb Space Telescope as part of the release of its first official science images on July 12, 2022. I created this image from near-infrared (NIRcam) data from the James Web Space Telescope (JWST). The following NIRcam filers were used in this image; F470N RED, F444W Orange, F435M Yellow, F212N Green, F187N Cyan, F090W Blue. Credit NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team. Software I used for data processing- Pixinsight 1.8 9-1, and Photoshop 24.7
Re-re-do of this image with less cropping, and re-using the sorta-cleaned stacked layers before stretching.
The "forgotten nebula" near Messier 8 and Messier 20, here imaged remotely via Chilescope's Telescope 3 (500mm Newtonian at F3.6, with a FLI Proline 16803 camera).
10 x 180s in luminance bin1:1
3 x 600s in H-alpha bin2:2
4 x 300s in red bin2:2
4 x 300s in blue bin2:2
No green due to end of session during the first image ... throws off my colour balance a bit in the greens and yellows, but oh well.
To note, the presence of the planetary nebula PK6-2.1 (a.k.a. M1-41) on the centre right near NGC6559, looking like a "squashed bug".
The big diffraction spike at the top of the image is from Saturn, something I completely overlooked during my prep' ...
This image from Ursa Major shows two Messier objects in the same field. They are 48 arcminutes apart. Many of the small background "stars" here are actually distant galaxies.
The Owl planetary nebula is about 3.7 arcminutes across in our sky but is actually 0.91 light years in diameter. It lies about 2600 light years distant. The central star has shed its outer layers which glow either red (hydrogen) or green-blue (oxygen) lit by the light of the remnant white dwarf star. Eventually, the star will cool and the gas will expand until the nebula fades away.
Barred spiral galaxy M108 is about 45 million light years away and is almost edge on from our perspective. It’s 8.7 x 2.2 arcminutes diameter in our sky. It lacks a prominent core or bulge but has numerous dust lanes. A Type II supernovae was observed here in 1969. It’s possible to see brownish dust lanes, pink hydrogen alpha zones and two bright blue stellar “associations” of young stars at this magnification.
900/120mm f/7.5 Equinox ED doublet refractor.
Skywatcher x 0.85 FR with 2 inch IDAS LPS D2 filter
MoonLite electronic focuser
Astro-modified Canon 80D at ISO400; 24 x 10 minute subs
NEQ6 pro mount with Rowan belt drives -2 star align.
Camera control with Backyard EOS
60 Flats EL panel: 1/40s @ ISO400
81 Darks @ 5-10c
Master Bias from Library, 04/2020
Camera sensor temperature (external battery): 5-6c
Post processed in PixInsight 1.8.8 and Photoshop CC 2021.
Local parameters:
Temp: 3.0 - 4.2c
Humidity: 65.4%
Pressure: 1017 hPa
Light Pollution and Weather:
SQM (L) at end of session (0132 hrs UT) =20.10 mag/arcsec2.
Clear, all subs good.
Polar Alignment:
QHY Polemaster alignment -
Error measured by PHD2= 1.2 arc minute.
RA drift + 0.68 arcsec/min
Dec drift + 0.85 arcsec/min
Guiding:
PHD2 guiding with ZWO ASI290mm/PrimaLuce Lab 240/60mm guide scope. Every 3rd shot dithered.
RA RMS error 0.67 arcsec, peak error -2.33 arcsec
Dec RMS error 0.46 arcsec, peak error -1.93 arcsec
Astrometry:
Center (RA): 11h 13m 12.488s
Center (Dec): +55° 17' 53.98"
Size: 1d 20m 11.6s x 54m 56.0s
Image scale: 0.977 arcsec/pixel
Focal distance: 781.48mm
Pixel Size 3.7 microm
Had some problems with this - although guiding parameters were excellent, I've got some trailing which might be due to differential flexure - my guide scope is comprised of a main tube, coarse focuser and helical focuser and there was a bit of loose play at each junction. Have tightened the grub screws up and will make sure scope is tightly aligned with main scope.
Secondly, Ive got red haloes around the bright stars - not the blue/violet you would expect with a doublet scope - the last time I had this problem, it was due to a IDAS LPS D2 clip in filter. I usually use the D1 version without issues. Funny that it has resurfaced with the 2 inch D2 filter currently fitted in my field flattener - think it will have to go!
Can fix these with a little bench work I hope.
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory contributes to the understanding of planetary nebulas by studying the hottest and most energetic processes still at work in these beautiful objects. X-ray data from Chandra reveal winds being driven away from the white dwarf so quickly (i.e., millions of miles per hour) that they create shock waves during collisions with slower-moving material previously ejected by the star. Chandra’s exceptional vision in X-rays contributes to the understanding of this brief, yet important, stage of stars’ lives. Here is the IC 418 planetary nebula that has been observed both by Chandra and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/AURA/STScI
#NASA #NASAMarshall #Chandra #solarsystemandbeyond #planetarynebula
Hubble was recently retrained on NGC 6302, known as the "Butterfly Nebula," to observe it across a more complete spectrum of light, from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared, helping researchers better understand the mechanics at work in its technicolor "wings" of gas. The observations highlight a new pattern of near-infrared emission from singly ionized iron, which traces an S-shape from lower left to upper right. This iron emission likely traces the central star system’s most recent ejections of gas, which are moving at much faster speeds than the previously expelled mass. The star or stars at its center are responsible for the nebula's appearance. In their death throes, they have cast off layers of gas periodically over the past couple thousand years. The "wings" of NGC 6302 are regions of gas heated to more than 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit that are tearing across space at more than 600,000 miles an hour. NGC 6302 lies between 2,500 and 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.
Image credit: NASA, ESA and J. Kastner (RIT)
Dumbbell nebula (M27) is a planetary nebula @ distance of 1360 light years from Earth. Its a remanent of exploded star that blasted before 10,000 years ago. The remanent gases are expanding at rate of 30 km/sec. the Red colour emission represents ionized Hydrogen gas. While, the blue one is doubly ionized Oxygen. Image taken by narrowband filters & processed as HOO. Image integration of 2 hours & 15 min, Lights 10 x 300 H-alpha, 15 x 300 O III, Darks 20, Bias 50, Flats 20, Flat darks 20. Imaged from Borlte sky 4. Gear set: ES 102 APO FCD100 @ f/5.6, iOptron GEM45 pro guided by ZWO mini guidescope & ZWO ASI120MM-S, Lightwave x0.8 F/R, ZWO EFW 1.25” x 5, Optolong Narrowband H-Alpha & O III filters, ZWO ASI1600MM cooled @ 0. Image acquisition by APT & PHD2. Stacked by DSS and processed by PS.
This object is part of a beautiful supernova remnant located 1500 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus known as the Veil Nebula (or Cygnus Loop). Pickering's Triangle is the least known of the 3 main supernova remnants of the massive and beautiful Veil Nebula. The other 2 remnants are NGC 6960 and NGC 6992/6995.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO AS2600mc-Pro running at 0C, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, Optolong L-eXtreme filter (2”), 42 x 300 second exposures, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini, focus with a ZWO EAF, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Processed using PixInsight and DSS. Image Date: August 3, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Stars’ Lifecycles Play Out in One Patch of Sky
Let’s start with the three smaller objects: Near the top left are two bright orange nebulas; the larger is Sh2-217 and the smaller--which appears to rest on the shoulder of the giant blue-orange object--is Sh2-219. At the bottom center is nebula BFS 44. These three emission nebulas are all part of the same star forming region. Their illumination comes from the young stars born from the area’s dense interstellar clouds. This vast, cloudy region sits roughly 14,250 light years away from my widefield telescope and serves as the backdrop to the two big, bright elephants in this frame.
Sh2-221 and Sh2-216, to the left and right respectively, resulted from different types of star deaths. Sh2-221 is a supernova remnant (SNR). Approximately 6,000 years ago a giant star more than ten times the mass of our Sun exploded, throwing shock waves and filaments of hot gasses outward initially at about 10% of the speed of light (30,000 km/s). Eventually the debris will cool, slow, and reabsorb into the interstellar medium. Think of it like a firework exploding in the sky--This is how giant stars die.
The planetary nebula (PN) Sh2-216, aged at around 500,000 years old, is truly ancient as far as PNs are concerned; in fact, it is the oldest, largest, and closest known PN to Earth. This nebula formed when the core of an aging star in the same size range as our Sun contracted and superheated, pushing away its outer layers of hot gasses. This shell expanded outward at an approximate initial speed of only(!) 25 km/s. Sh2-216 has grown exceedingly dim, and its fuzzy edges indicate that it is beginning to dissipate. Think of it as a plume of smoke--This is how medium size stars die.
So these two objects appear about the same size, but which one is actually closer to us? SNR Sh2-221 is roughly 2,600 ly away and about 130 ly across, while PN Sh2-216 is approximately 400 ly away and 11 ly wide. Therefore, PN Sh2-216 is much closer and smaller in actual size than SNR Sh2-221. You know those travel photos of a tourist holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Well consider Sh2-221 the Tower and Sh2-216 the Tourist!
The telescope I used for this shot is my Takahashi FSQ-106 @ f/3.6, equivalent to a 382mm lens (for a telescope this is very wide angle, for a camera lens this is considered an ultra-telephoto). I’ll spare you all of the details on the camera except to say that it has a monochrome “full frame” sensor. This means that the image spans almost 5.5 degrees of sky, or eleven full Moons set in a horizontal row. There are many nebulas in our skies that would appear much larger than our Moon if only we could see them...Consider this for a moment: Space seems so abstract and remote, and its objects so impossibly small and distant; but if we had eyes evolved to see effectively in the dark, how colorful, textural, and alluring might the night sky appear to us?
See on Fluidr
To see more of my work and to buy prints visit www.jklovelacephotography.com/pages/space
This composite image of BD+30-3639 shows a hot bubble of multimillion degree gas surrounding a dying, Sun-like star that is about 5,000 light years from Earth. The distance across the bubble is roughly 100 times the diameter of our solar system.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/STScI/Univ. MD/J.P.Harrington
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #ChandraXrayObservatory #cxo #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #galaxy
Here you can see the Helix Nebula. This is a planetary nebula located the constellation Aquarius. The nebula is a remnant of a star which shed its outer layers near the end of its evolution. It is located approximately 695 light-years from Earth, making it one of the nearest and brightest of all of the known planetary nebulae.
This image is a stacked version of 60 one-minute exposures with a Celestron 8-inch Rowe-Ackermann Telescope and an ASI 294mc color camera.
Taken at the Deerlick Astronomy Village, near Sharon, Georgia on 9-29-19.
NGC7662 The Blue Snowball planetary nebula in the constellation Andromeda
This is quite a tricky target because it is small at 37" but bright with a magnitude of 8.6 so it is really easy to overexpose.
Shot from London on 1st September 2016, this is around 10 minutes of exposure using a Canon EOS Rebel T3i camera and Celestron Edge HD11 Scope
Darks, flats and bias applied in DSS and final processing carried out in Photoshop
Located around 5,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus (the Swan), Abell 78 is an unusual type of planetary nebula.
After exhausting the nuclear fuel in their cores, stars with a mass of around 0.8 to eight times the mass of our Sun collapse to form dense and hot white dwarf stars. As this process occurs, the dying star will throw off its outer layers of material, forming an elaborate cloud of gas and dust known as a planetary nebula. This phenomenon is not uncommon, and planetary nebulae are a popular focus for astrophotographers because of their often beautiful and complex shapes. However, a few like Abell 78 are the result of a so-called “born again” star.
Although the core of the star has stopped burning hydrogen and helium, a thermonuclear runaway at its surface ejects material at high speeds. This ejecta shocks and sweeps up the material of the old nebula, producing the filaments and irregular shell around the central star seen in this image, which features data from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Guerrero; Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #planetarynebula
Also known as the “Eye of God”, it is cataloged as NGC6720in the New General Catalog. It is a Planetary Nebula in the constellation of Lyra (The Lyre) with 2,300 light years distant from Earth, a magnitude of 9.5 and an angular size of 3 arcminutes. This bright object is easily visible through small telescopes, its shape and some definition is best observed with instruments larger than 4 inches.
Taken at Lee, IL on 20150527
Image Type: LRHaGB
Lum 12x180 1x1; Ha 9 x 240; RGB 9x120 1x1
Hardware:
AstroTech RC 8” with 0.8 reducer/flattener
Orion 400m Short Tube piggy back for guiding
Orion Star-Shooter Auto-guider
QHY9M with filter wheel with Astrodom filters
Software:
EQMOD with Starry Night Pro 7
Nebulosity 3.0.2
CCD Stack
Photoshop CS3
Conditions:
A fairly clear night with the crescent Moon a day after first quarter. Low temp of 54F.
Recently, NGC 7027's central star was identified in a new wavelength of light — near-ultraviolet — for the first time by using Hubble's unique capabilities. The near-ultraviolet observations will help reveal how much dust obscures the star and how hot the star really is. This object, which resembles a colorful jewel bug, is a visibly diffuse region of gas and dust that may be the result of ejections by closely orbiting binary stars that were first slowly sloughing off material over thousands of years, and then entered a phase of more violent and highly directed mass ejections. Hubble first looked at this planetary nebula in 1998. By comparing the old and new Hubble observations, researchers now have additional opportunities to study the object as it changes over time. Planetary nebulas are expanding shells of gas created by dying stars that are shedding their outer layers. When new ejections encounter older ejections, the resulting energetic collisions shape the nebula. The mechanisms underlying such sequences of stellar mass expulsion are far from fully understood, but researchers theorize that binary companions to the central, dying stars play essential roles in shaping them. NGC 7027 is approximately 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus.
Image credit: NASA, ESA and J. Kastner (RIT)
A deep view into this fascinating planetary nebula to expose the outer shells of the nebula.
The Ring Nebula (also catalogued as Messier 57, M57 and NGC 6720) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Lyra. Such a nebula is formed when a star, during the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf, expels a vast luminous envelope of ionized gas into the surrounding interstellar space. [WIKI]
The was a challenge to edit because the outer shell is very weak compared to the inner core. I used a masked stretch to bring the exposure into a reasonably even range, then applied some local histogram adjustments to create more contrast in the image. There is even more details in the outer shell that more integration would reveal. Something for a future project or collaboration.
Imaged on the C14 Edge HD in Dome 4 at the Los Coloraos complex in Gorafe, Spain.
This is 24 hours of HOO data. Sii was taken and will be used for a different colour palette version at a later date.
The image was originally 0.4 arc seconds per pixel, but this is a drizzled 2x version hence the 0.2 arc seconds reported in the plate solver.
Full resolution and imaging details available at: astrob.in/dy8dtz/0/
The Owl Nebula (also known as Messier 97, M97 or NGC 3587) is a planetary nebula located approximately 2,030 light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The owl-like appearance is caused by various formed shells expanding away from the central star.
Tech Specs: This image is composed of 23 x 60 second images at ISO 3,200 with 4 x 60 second darks and 4 x 1/4000 second bias frames using a Meade LX90 12” telescope and Canon 6D camera mounted on a Celestron CGEM-DX mount. Guided using a Canon 400mm lens and ZWO ASI290MC camera. Imaging was done on April 14, 2017 from Weatherly, Pennsylvania.
Abell 39 è una nebulosa planetaria nella costellazione di Ercole: dista 7000 anni luce e ha una estensione di 5 anni luce.
Nebulose planetarie come questa si formano quando stelle simili al sole giungono al termine della loro vita e iniziano ad espellere gli strati esterni della loro atmosfera in un periodo di migliaia di anni.
La stella che ha generato Abell 39 è ancora visibile al centro della nebulosa e diventerà una caldissima nana bianca.
In questa immagine, ottenuta sotto cieli scuri, sono visibili parecchie remote galassie, alcune anche attraverso la nebulosa.
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Ghostly in appearance, Abell 39 is a remarkably simple, spherical nebula about five light-years across.
Well within our own Milky Way galaxy, the cosmic sphere is roughly 7,000 light-years distant toward the constellation Hercules.
Abell 39 is a planetary nebula, formed as a once sun-like star's outer atmosphere was expelled over a period of thousands of years. Still visible, the nebula's central star is evolving into a hot white dwarf. Although faint, the nebula's simple geometry has proven to be a boon to astronomers exploring the chemical abundances and life cycles of stars. In this image recorded under dark skies, very distant background galaxies can be found - some visible right through the nebula itself.
(text adapted from APOD)
Technical data
GSO RC12 Truss - Aperture 304mm, focal lenght 2432mm, f/8
Mount 10Micron GM2000 HPSII
Camera ZWO ASI 2600 MM Pro with filter wheel 7 positions
Filters Astrodon Gen2 E-Serie Tru-Balance 50mm unmounted RGB and OIII 5nm
Guiding system ZWO OAG-L with guide camera ASI 174MM
Exposure details:
OIII 40x600", R 24x300", G 23x300", B 23x300" all in bin3 -15C
gain 100
Total integration time: 12h30'
Acquisition: Voyager, PHD2
Processing: Pixinsight 1.8, Photoshop CS5, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, BlurXTerminator
SQM-L: 21.00
Location: Promiod (Aosta Valley, Italy), own remote observatory
Date February/May 2023
This image shows the planetary nebula IC 289, located in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. Formerly a star like our Sun, it is now just a cloud of ionized gas being pushed out into space by the remnants of the star’s core, visible as a small bright dot in the middle of the cloud. I last imaged this in August using a refractor and decided to put a bigger scope on it for this image.
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension: 03h 10m 19.3017s
Declination: +61° 19′ 00.914″
Distance: 5,190 ± 500 ly
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Tech Specs: Orion 8” RC Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at -10F, 81 Minutes using 60 second exposures, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in PixInsight. Image Date: November 7, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
The bright star at the centre of NGC 3132, while prominent when viewed by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Telescope in near-infrared light, plays a supporting role in sculpting the surrounding nebula. A second star, barely visible at lower left along one of the bright star’s diffraction spikes, is the nebula’s source. It has ejected at least eight layers of gas and dust over thousands of years.
But the bright central star visible here has helped ‘stir the pot’, changing the shape of this planetary nebula’s highly intricate rings by creating turbulence. The pair of stars are locked in a tight orbit, which leads the dimmer star to spray ejected material in a range of directions as they orbit one another, resulting in these jagged rings.
Hundreds of straight, brightly-lit lines pierce through the rings of gas and dust. These ‘spotlights’ emanate from the bright star and stream through holes in the nebula like sunlight through gaps in a cloud.
But not all of the starlight can escape. The density of the central region, set off in teal, is reflected by how transparent or opaque it is. Areas that are a deeper teal indicate that the gas and dust are denser — and light is unable to break free.
Data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) were used to make this extremely detailed image. It is teeming with scientific information — and research will begin following its release.
This is not only a crisp image of a planetary nebula — it also shows us objects in the vast expanse of space behind it. The transparent red sections of the planetary nebula — and all the areas outside it — are filled with distant galaxies.
Look for the bright angled line at the upper left. It is not starlight — it is a faraway galaxy seen edge-on. Distant spirals, of many shapes and colours, also dot the scene. Those that are farthest away — or are very dusty — are small and red.
NIRCam was built by a team at the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center.
Get the full array of Webb’s first images and spectra, including downloadable files, here.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team
The Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27, M27 or NGC 6853) is a bright planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula. It is easily seen in binoculars and wide-field photographs. The central star is an extremely hot blueish subdwarf. The nebula was created by the dying star ejecting a shell of gas into space. No summer is complete without imaging this nebula!
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, 58 x 60 second exposures, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using Sequence Generator Pro and processed using PixInsight. Image date: May 25, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.
Located around 5000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan), Abell 78 is an unusual type of planetary nebula.
After exhausting the nuclear fuel in their cores, stars with a mass of around 0.8 to 8 times the mass of our Sun collapse to form dense and hot white dwarf stars. As this process occurs, the dying star will throw off its outer layers of material, forming an elaborate cloud of gas and dust known as a planetary nebula. This phenomenon is not uncommon, and planetary nebulae are a popular focus for astrophotographers because of their often beautiful and complex shapes. However, a few like Abell 78 are the result of a so-called “born again” star.
Although the core of the star has stopped burning hydrogen and helium, a thermonuclear runaway at its surface ejects material at high speeds. This ejecta shocks and sweeps up the material of the old nebula, producing the filaments and irregular shell around the central star seen in this Picture of the Week, which features data from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and PANSTARSS.
Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Guerrero; CC BY 4.0
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Nome: Nebulosa Helix, NGC 7293
Tipo: Nebulosa Planetária
Distância: 700 anos-luz
Constelação: Aquário [1]
A Nebulosa Hélix, catalogada como NGC 7293, encontra-se a 700 anos-luz distante na constelação de Aquário. É um dos mais próximos e espetacular exemplo de nebulosa planetária. Estes exóticos objetos não tem nada a ver com planetas, mas são estrelas semelhantes ao nosso sol em uma fase de evolução estelar antes de se tornarem estrelas anãs brancas. As camadas de gases são arrancadas da superfície da estrela, criando padrões intricados e de extrema beleza, que brilham sob forte radiação ultravioleta de uma tênue, mas muito quente, estrela central. O principal anel da Nebulosa Hélix estende-se por cerca de dois anos-luz ou a metade da distância entre o nosso Sol e sua estrela vizinha mais próxima.[2]
Apesar de ser espetacular em fotografias a Hélix é difícil de se observar visualmente pois sua luz tênue está espalhada por uma vasta área do céu e a história de sua descoberta é um tanto obscura. Ela apareceu primeiro em uma lista de novos objetos compilada pelo astrônomo alemão Karl Ludwig Harding em 1824. O nome Hélix vem de sua aparência no formato de saca-rolhas visto em fotografias anteriores.[2]
Embora a Hélix pareça muito com uma rosquinha, estudos têm mostrado que possivelmente ela é composta por pelo menos dois discos separados com anéis externos e por filamentos. O disco interior mais brilhante parece estar se expandindo a cerca de 100.000 km/h e pode ter levado cerca de 12.000 anos para se formar.[2]
Como Hélix é relativamente próxima – cobre uma área do céu cerca de um quarto da Lua cheia – ela pode ser estudada com muito mais detalhes do que a maioria das outras nebulosas planetárias além de encontrarem estruturas complexas e inesperadas. Em todo o interior do anel há pequenas bolhas, conhecidas como “nós cometários”, com caudas tênues que estendem-se para longe da estrela central. Eles se parecem notavelmente com gotículas de líquido correndo por uma superfície de vidro. Embora pareçam pequenas, cada nó é quase do tamanho do nosso Sistema Solar. Estes nós têm sido amplamente estudados, tanto pelo telescópio VLT do ESO como pelo telescópio espacial Hubble da NASA/ESA, mas ainda permanecem parcialmente esclarecidos. Um olhar cuidadoso em imagens de alta resolução da parte central deste objeto revela não apenas os nós, mas também muitas galáxias remotas vistas através do fino gás brilhante que se dissemina. Algumas delas parecem estar reunidas em grupos de galáxias espalhadas por várias partes da imagem.[2]
Fonte:
[1] ESO - www.eso.org/public/images/eso0907a/
[2] ESO - www.eso.org/public/news/eso0907/
Esta imagem foi registrada em 16 de julho de 2015 em Padre Bernardo - Goiás - Brasil durante o 8º Encontro Brasileiro de Astrofotografia.
Dados técnicos:
ISO 800, exposição total de 2h55m (35 subs), darks (200), flats (132) e bias (200) aplicados.
Equipamento:
- Montagem Equatorial Orion Atlas EQ-G
- Telescópio Ritchey-Chretien 8" F8 Fibra de Carbono GSO
- Câmera Canon DSLR 500D modificada com filtro Astrodon
- Redutor focal Astro-Physics 67 CCD
- Auto guiagem com câmera ASI120MM ZWO em OAG
Software
- Captura: BackyardEOS
- Processamento: PixInsight 1.8, eXcalibrator e Adobe Photoshop CS5
- Guiagem: Maxim DL 5
The life of a planetary nebula is often chaotic, from the death of its parent star to the scattering of its contents far out into space. Captured here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, ESO 455-10 is one such planetary nebula, located in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion).
The oblate shells of ESO 455-10, previously held tightly together as layers of its central star, not only give this planetary nebula its unique appearance, but also offer information about the nebula. Seen in a field of stars, the distinct asymmetrical arc of material over the north side of the nebula is a clear sign of interactions between ESO 455-10 and the interstellar medium.
The interstellar medium is the material such as diffuse gas between star systems and galaxies. The star at the center of ESO 455-10 allows Hubble to see the interaction with the gas and dust of the nebula, the surrounding interstellar medium, and the light from the star itself. Planetary nebulae are thought to be crucial in galactic enrichment as they distribute their elements, particularly the heavier metal elements produced inside a star, into the interstellar medium which will in time form the next generation of stars.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. Stanghellini
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #planetarynebula
NGC 2371 è una nebulosa planetaria nella costellazione dei Gemelli con una curiosa forma che la fa assomigliare ad una caramella.
Si presenta infatti come un disco irregolare e con un chiaro aspetto bipolare: questa morfologia induce a pensare che le due condensazioni laterale di materiale facciano parte di un toroide di gas. Curioso quel debole filamento che connette la parte centrale con la condensazione laterale superiore.
E’ una nebulosa abbastanza piccola, avendo solo 62” di diametro: l'immagine qua proposta è pertanto un crop del frame originale.
NGC 2371 si trova a 3900 anni luce e la stella centrale ha magnitudine 14.8.
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NGC 2371 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Gemini with a curious shape that makes it look like a candy.
In fact, it appears as an irregular disk with a clear bipolar appearance: this morphology suggests that the two lateral condensations of material are part of a gas torus.
Curious is that weak filament that connects the central part with the upper lateral condensation.
It is a fairly small nebula, having only 62 "in diameter: the image proposed here is therefore a crop of the original frame.
NGC 2371 is 3900 light years away and the central star has a magnitude of 14.8.
Technical data
RC12 GSO Truss (diameter 304mm, focal lenght 2432mm)
Mount GM2000HPSII
CCD Moravian G3-16200 with Astrodon filters Ha/OIII 5nm
Ha 48x300" bin2 -30C
OIII 40x300" bin2 -30C
Total exposures 7.3h
Guide with OAG Moravian and guide camera Moravian G1-0301
Sw: Voyager, Pixinsight 1.8, Photoshop CS5
Images taken in January/February 2020 from my personal observatory in Aosta Valley (Italy)
Selected by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich for their October Night Sky highlights www.rmg.co.uk/night-sky-highlights-october-2018
A rarely-imaged faint Planetary Nebula (PNe) hiding within Lynds Bright Nebula 381 (LBN 381) in Cygnus, first noted by Ronald Weinberger in 1977. This PNe was brought to my attention by Barry Wilson in his recent excellent image of LBN 381.
A planetary nebula forms when a star can no longer support itself by fusion reactions in its centre. The gravity from the material in the outer part of the star takes its inevitable toll on the structure of the star, and forces the inner parts to condense and heat up. The high temperature central regions drive the outer half of the star away in a brisk stellar wind, lasting a few thousand years. This ejection has resulted in this bubble-like structure. When the process is complete, the remaining core remnant is uncovered and heats the now distant gases and causes them to glow.
This is a highly evolved and thus extremely faint PNe with very low surface brightness of between 22.1 and 25.8 mag/sq-arcsec. Over time this will become so faint that it will completely disappear. This image shows the existence of an outer OIII shell that according to Ronald Weinberger hasn't been seen before.
Image captured jointly by myself and Alistair Macpherson at sites in Shropshire, England and Alcalali, Spain. Because of the faintness of this target we chose to go deep, capturing a total of 46 hours 30 minutes of data, with 34 hours at bin 2x2.
46 hours 30 minutes in total.
Red 21x600s bin 1x1
Green 12x600s bin 1x1
Blue 20x600s bin 1x1
Lum 19x600s bin 1x1
Ha 17x1800s bin 2x2 and 35x1200s bin 2x2
OIII 43x1200s bin 2x2
Shropshire: APM TMB 152 F8 LZOS, 10 Micron GM2000HPS, SX H694
Alcalali: APM TMB 152 F8 LZOS, 10 Micron GM2000HPS, QSI6120ws8
The Little Dumbbell Nebula, also known as Messier 76 (M76), NGC 650/651, is a planetary nebula in northern constellation Perseus. Distance to M76 is currently estimated as 780 parsecs or 2,500 light years. The total nebula shines at the apparent magnitude of +10.1. The Little Dumbbell Nebula derives its common name from its resemblance to the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) in Vulpecula. It was originally thought to consist of two separate emission nebulae so bears New General Catalogue numbers NGC 650 and 651.
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC and ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF. 54 x 60 seconds at -10C plus darks and flats. Image Date: November 3, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Sh2-188 is a planetary nebula in Cassiopeia. It does not have an official name but is often called the "Shrimp Nebula" or even the "Dolphin Nebula" due to its shape. The expanding gas from the planetary nebula is colliding with ambient gas in the interstellar medium. The nebula is nearly circular in shape but is much brighter to the southeast (lower right) because the central star is moving rapidly in that direction. Faint wisps of gas can also be seen in the opposite direction.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO AS2600mc-Pro running at 0C, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, Optolong L-eNhance filter (2”), 35 x 300 second exposures, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini, focus with a ZWO EAF, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Processed using PixInsight and DSS. Image Date: August 18, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Here is a 15-minute combined exposure of the Blue Flash Nebula in the constellation Delphinus (also known as NGC 6905). The inset has the brighter surrounding stars removed and adjusted to bring out some details. Focus slipped out on this somewhat – back on the target list for next season.
Tech Specs: This image is composed of 60 x 15 second images at ISO 3,200 with 5 x 15 second darks and 5 x 1/4000 second bias frames using a Meade LX90 12” telescope and Canon 6D camera mounted on a Celestron CGEM-DX mount. Imaging was done on October 5, 2016 from Weatherly, Pennsylvania.
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_6905)
Miami Valley Astronomical Society (mvas.org/node/5224)
Kitt Peak (www.noao.edu/kpvc/observers/n6905.html)
NGC 6781 is a planetary nebula a few thousand light years away in the constellation Aquila. The planetary nebula is about two light-years across. Within NGC 6781, shells of gas blown off from the faint, but very hot, central star’s surface expand out into space. These shells shine under the harsh ultraviolet radiation from the progenitor star in intricate and beautiful patterns. The central star will steadily cool down and darken, eventually disappearing from view into cosmic oblivion (www.eso.org/public/images/ngc6781-potw/).
These nebulae are formed when a star begins reaching its end of life. The star begins throwing off shells of gas that expand away from the star. This forms a ring of hot ionized gas that we see as a planetary nebula. If you look closely, you can see a small blue star in the center of the nebula, this is the star that created the nebula.
Location:
Right Ascension (J2000) 19h 18m 28s
Declination (J2000) +06° 32’ 22”
Visual Magnitude: 11.8
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, Antares Focal Reducer, 56 x 60 second at 0C with darks and flats, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using ZWO AAP and processed using PixInsight. Image date: July 30, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
A perfect pearl of the sky, Abel 39 is a faint planetary nebula shaped as a silky smooth sphere 5 light years diameter. The shell was thrown off by the central star as it evolved into its final white dwarf stage. Abel 39 lies relatively close to us at about 7,000 light years in the constellation Hercules. Visible through the nebula at the 2:00 position is a far more distant (and only apparently tiny) spiral galaxy.
This image was captured under high desert skies near Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA with a telescope of 12" aperture at f/8 and an electrically-cooled CCD camera. This image was taken through a narrow-band oxygen-III (blue green) filter. Total exposure was nine hours.
NGC 2438 is a planetary nebula found inside the open cluster M46 in the constellation Puppis. I remember the first time I imaged M46 and spotted this fuzzy planetary nebula, I thought I discovered something new! My star atlas, at the time, did not show this NGC object. This planetary nebula is actually not part of the open cluster, it just appears in the same line of sight. It’s estimated distance is 3,000 light years away and has a magnitude of 10.8.
Tech Specs: This image is composed of 40 x 15 second images at ISO 5,000 with 5 x 15 second darks and 5 x 1/4000 second bias frames using a Meade LX90 12” telescope and Canon 6D camera mounted on a Celestron CGEM-DX mount. Imaging was done on February 18, 2017 from Weatherly, Pennsylvania.
NGC 1501 lies in the constellation Camelopardalis (the Giraffe) and is roughly 5,000 light-years away. The internal complexity of this nebula is only hinted at in my image, you can see the various light and dark bands inside. It has also been referred to as the Oyster Nebula, from the bright central star peeking out of the cloudy shell around it. The surrounding cloud was formed when the central star blasted off its outer shells.
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC and ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF. 54 x 60 seconds at -10C plus darks and flats. Image Date: November 4, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Astrobin Image Of The Day
Published in Astronomy Now magazine July 2019.
Abell 39 is a low surface brightness planetary nebula in the constellation of Hercules. It is almost perfectly spherical and also one of the largest known spheres with a radius of about 2.5 light-years.
22h5m total integration (20x300s L,13x300s R, 20x300sB, 20x300s G, 32x1800s OIII).
e-Eye, Spain 28/3-4/5/2019.
APM TMB 152 F8 LZOS, 10 Micron GM2000HPS, QSI6120wsg8
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Telescope has revealed the cloak of dust around the second star, shown at left in red, at the centre of the Southern Ring Nebula for the first time. It is a hot, dense white dwarf star.
As it transformed into a white dwarf, the star periodically ejected mass — the shells of material you see here. As if on repeat, it contracted, heated up, and then, unable to push out more material, pulsated.
At this stage, it should have shed its last layers. So why is the red star still cloaked in dust? Was material transferred from its companion? Researchers will begin to pursue answers soon.
The bluer star at right in this image has also shaped the scene. It helps stir up the ejected material. The disc around the stars is also wobbling, shooting out spirals of gas and dust over long periods of time. This scene is like witnessing a rotating sprinkler that’s finished shooting out material in all directions over thousands of years.
Webb captured this scene in mid-infrared light — most of which can only be observed from space. Mid-infrared light helps researchers detect objects enshrouded in dust, like the red star.
This Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) image also offers an incredible amount of detail, including a cache of distant galaxies in the background. Most of the multi-coloured points of light are galaxies, not stars. Tiny triangles mark the circular edges of stars, including a blue one within the nebula’s red bottom-most edges, while galaxies look like misshapen circles, straight lines, and spirals.
MIRI was contributed by ESA and NASA, and the instrument was designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.
Get the full array of Webb’s first images and spectra, including downloadable files, here.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team
From Wikipedia: NGC 40 (also known as the Bow-Tie Nebula and Caldwell 2) is a planetary nebula discovered by William Herschel on November 25, 1788, and is composed of hot gas around a dying star. The star has ejected its outer layer which has left behind a smaller, hot star with a temperature on the surface of about 50,000 degrees Celsius. Radiation from the star causes the shed outer layer to heat to about 10,000 degrees Celsius, and is about one light-year across. About 30,000 years from now, scientists theorize that NGC 40 will fade away, leaving only a white dwarf star approximately the size of Earth.
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, 142 mixed 1-second, 5-second, and 10-second exposures, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using Sequence Generator Pro and processed using PixInsight. Image date: August 16, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.
Space Science Image of the Week: A cosmic trick of the eye
Stars of different masses end their lives in different ways. While truly massive stars go out in a blaze of glory, intermediate-mass stars — those between roughly one and eight times the mass of the Sun — are somewhat quieter, forming cosmic objects known as planetary nebulas.
Named because of their vague resemblance to planets when seen through early, low-resolution telescopes, planetary nebulas are created when a dying star flings off its outer layers of gas into space. This cloud forms an expanding shell around the central star, while the star itself slowly cools to become a white dwarf. This is what has happened in this NASA/ESA +Hubble Space Telescope image, taken in 2007, which shows a planetary nebula known as NGC 2371.
NGC 2371 resides 4300 light-years away from us, in the constellation of Gemini. It is one of the largest planetary nebulas known, measuring roughly three light-years across. Its progenitor star can be seen here as a pinprick of orange–-red light, surrounded by a green, blue and aqua-tinged puff of gas. This shell appears to have a regular, elliptical shape that is sliced in half by a dark lane running through the nebula, which also encompasses the central star.
Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Read more about this fascinating image here.
This is the planetary nebula NGC 7048 found in the constellation Cygnus. This planetary nebula has an apparent magnitude of 12.1 and is about 5,260 light years away.
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Right ascension: 24h 14m 15.25s
Declination: +46° 17′ 16.1″
Distance: 5260 ly
Apparent magnitude (V): 12.1
Apparent diameter: 1.02′
Constellation: Cygnus
Designations: PK 088-01 1, PN ARO 41, IRAS 21124+4604
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, Antares Focal Reducer, 54 x 60 second at 0C with darks and flats, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using ZWO AAP and processed using PixInsight. Image date: August 2, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
M27
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Image exposure: 130 minutes
Image Size: Size: 57.5′ x 38.3′
Image date: 2024-08-26
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A planetary nebula, the "Helix" was formed starting only about 10,000 years ago from gases shed by a dying star, with the outer layers expanding somewhat faster than the inner layers. The remaining core of the star is so energetic that it excites the expanding the gases, causing them to glow.
The Helix Nebula is often noteworthy for its resemblance to an "eye in the sky" from our vantage from Earth; it's alternately referred to as the "Eye of God" and even "The Eye of Sauron". In reality, though, it is thought to be shaped as a prolate spheroid, somewhat resembling a football.
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Re-shot in 2019
Image captured:
26-29 September 2019
South Shore, Lake San Antonio, CA.
Calstar 2019
R: 12 x 10 min
G: 11 x 10 min
B: 9 x 10 min
(5.33 hrs of total integration)
Unbinned (1x1)
QSI-690
AT6RC with Field Flattener
The Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27, M27 or NGC 6853) is a bright planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula. It is easily seen in binoculars and wide-field photographs. The central star is an extremely hot blueish subdwarf. The nebula was created by the dying star ejecting a shell of gas into space.
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, Antares Focal Reducer, 25 x 60 second at 0C with darks and flats, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using ZWO AAP and processed using PixInsight. Image date: July 26, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Nome: Nebulosa Helix, NGC 7293
Tipo: Nebulosa Planetária
Distância: 700 anos-luz
Constelação: Aquário [1]
A Nebulosa Hélix, catalogada como NGC 7293, encontra-se a 700 anos-luz distante na constelação de Aquário. É um dos mais próximos e espetacular exemplo de nebulosa planetária. Estes exóticos objetos não tem nada a ver com planetas, mas são estrelas semelhantes ao nosso sol em uma fase de evolução estelar antes de se tornarem estrelas anãs brancas. As camadas de gases são arrancadas da superfície da estrela, criando padrões intricados e de extrema beleza, que brilham sob forte radiação ultravioleta de uma tênue, mas muito quente, estrela central. O principal anel da Nebulosa Hélix estende-se por cerca de dois anos-luz ou a metade da distância entre o nosso Sol e sua estrela vizinha mais próxima [2].
Apesar de ser espetacular em fotografias a Hélix é difícil de se observar visualmente pois sua luz tênue está espalhada por uma vasta área do céu e a história de sua descoberta é um tanto obscura. Ela apareceu primeiro em uma lista de novos objetos compilada pelo astrônomo alemão Karl Ludwig Harding em 1824. O nome Hélix vem de sua aparência no formato de saca-rolhas visto em fotografias anteriores [2].
Embora a Hélix pareça muito com uma rosquinha, estudos têm mostrado que possivelmente ela é composta por pelo menos dois discos separados com anéis externos e por filamentos. O disco interior mais brilhante parece estar se expandindo a cerca de 100.000 km/h e pode ter levado cerca de 12.000 anos para se formar [2].
Como Hélix é relativamente próxima – cobre uma área do céu cerca de um quarto da Lua cheia – ela pode ser estudada com muito mais detalhes do que a maioria das outras nebulosas planetárias além de encontrarem estruturas complexas e inesperadas. Em todo o interior do anel há pequenas bolhas, conhecidas como “nós cometários”, com caudas tênues que estendem-se para longe da estrela central. Eles se parecem notavelmente com gotículas de líquido correndo por uma superfície de vidro. Embora pareçam pequenas, cada nó é quase do tamanho do nosso Sistema Solar. Estes nós têm sido amplamente estudados, tanto pelo telescópio VLT do ESO como pelo telescópio espacial Hubble da NASA/ESA, mas ainda permanecem parcialmente esclarecidos. Um olhar cuidadoso em imagens de alta resolução da parte central deste objeto revela não apenas os nós, mas também muitas galáxias remotas vistas através do fino gás brilhante que se dissemina. Algumas delas parecem estar reunidas em grupos de galáxias espalhadas por várias partes da imagem [2].
Fonte:
[1] ESO - www.eso.org/public/images/eso0907a/
[2] ESO - www.eso.org/public/news/eso0907/
Esta imagem foi registrada em 26 de agosto de 2017 e 12 de agosto de 2018 na zona rural de Munhoz - Minas Gerais - Brasil. Local com escala de Bortle 4.
Dados técnicos:
Gain 0, offset 10, temperatura da câmera -15°C e -20°C, exposição total de 9h42m (136 subs), darks (40), flats (160) e darks flats (160) aplicados.
O filtro H-Alpha foi utilizado para enriquecer os canais Vermelho e de Luminância.
Filtros:
Luminância (IR/UV Cut) 20 x 300s / Bin 1x1
H-Alpha 7nm 48 x 300s / Bin 1x1
Vermelho 10 x 300s / Bin 1x1
Vermelho 13 x 150s / Bin 2x2
Verde 10 x 300s / Bin 1x1
Verde 13 x 150s / Bin 2x2
Azul 9 x 300s / Bin 1x1
Azul 13 x 150s / Bin 2x2
Equipamento:
- Montagem Equatorial Orion Atlas EQ-G
- Telescópio GSO Ritchey-Chretien 8" F8 Fibra de Carbono
- Câmera ZWO ASI1600MM Cooled
- Redutor focal Astro-Physics 67 CCDT
- Auto guiagem com câmera ZWO ASI120MM em OAG
- Roda de Filtros ZWO 8 posições
- Filtros Optolong 1,25" H-Alpha 7nm, Luminance, Red, Green, Blue
Softwares
- Captura: APT - Astro Photography Tool 3.50
- Processamento: PixInsight 1.8 e Adobe Photoshop CS5
- Guiagem: PHD2
- Controle: EQMOD e SkyTechX
Planetary nebula Messier 27 - a shell of fluorescing hydrogen (red) and oxygen ( blue) surrounds the remnants of a once active star - probably not unlike our own Sun. The white dwarf remnant star can be seen at the centre of the nebula.
The intense UV light from the white dwarf makes the surrounding ionised gases fluoresce in characteristic colours. The clouds of gas were probably shrugged off the star in the final phases of its life.
Deeper images show further shells of gas which are just hinted at here.
Size is 8.0 x 5.6 arcminutes
I have always shied away from using my SkyWatcher Equinox 120ED scope for DSOs but recently, I thought about fitting it with a top rail and attaching a guidescope.
I was trying out a new guide camera/scope combination and had some problems - it was also near full Moon which is not great for DSO imaging but overall got a reasonable result for just 10 x test subs of 300 seconds at ISO400.
I used a x0.85 matched field flattener/focal reducer which brings this down to about 760mm.
It was fairly straightforward to remove the blue/violet doublet scope star fringes using Noel Carboni's Astrophotography Actions for PS.
Id like to use this setup to chase small, faint comets in future.
I didnt measure Light Pollution given the almost full Moon.
PHD2 guiding was with a ZWO ASI290 MM mini camera and a PrimaLuce Lab 60mm f/4 guidescope. I had driver, focusing and cable problems but I should be able to sort those out.
SkyWatcher Equinox ED120mm scope with x0.85 reducer
2 inch IDAS D2 filter mounted in reducer
Modified Canon 80D
EQ6 pro mount with Rowan belt drives
50 x flat frames
80 x bias frames
27 x temperature matched dark frames from dark library
Resolution is 0.976 arcsec/pxl.
The field of view for the uncropped image from the modified Canon 80D is 1 degree 37 arcminutes x 1 degree and 5 arcminutes.
A planetary nebula in the constellation Vulepecula.
The central star has shed its outer layers to become a white dwarf star. The intense UV light from the white dwarf makes the layers fluoresce - red-pink for ionised hydrogen and blue for doubly ionised oxygen.
Knowing the rate of expansion of the shells then working backwards, the nebula is about 14600 years old.
Taken with iTelescope T3 - 40 x 360s exposures.
Takahashi 150/1095mm refractor
SBIG CCD camera 2048 x 2048 pixels.
The Owl Nebula (also known as Messier 97, M97 or NGC 3587) is a planetary nebula located approximately 2,030 light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The owl-like appearance is caused by various formed shells expanding away from the central star.
Tech Specs: This image is composed of 54 x 60 second images at ISO 3200 with dark and bias frames using a Meade LX90 12” telescope and Canon 6D camera. Guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and 60mm guide scope. Imaging was done on March 26, 2019 from the Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA, USA.
Beneath the vivid hues of this eye-shaped cloud, named Abell 78, a tale of stellar life and death is unfolding. At the centre of the nebula, a dying star – not unlike our Sun – which shed its outer layers on its way to oblivion has, for a brief period of time, come back to echo its past glory.
Releasing their outer shells is the usual fate for any star with a mass of 0.8–8 times that of the Sun. Having exhausted the nuclear fuel in their cores after burning for billions of years, these stars collapse to become dense, hot white dwarf stars. Around them, the ejected material strikes the ambient gas and dust, creating beautiful clouds known as ‘planetary nebulas’. This curious name was adopted by 18th-century astronomers who discovered these ‘puffing’ stars and thought their round shape similar to that of planets.
However, the resurgence to life seen in this image is an exceptional event for a planetary nebula. Only a handful of such born-again stars have been discovered, and here the intricate shape of the cloud’s glowing material gives away its turbulent history.
Although nuclear burning of hydrogen and helium had ceased in the core of the dying star, causing it to collapse under its own weight and its envelope to expand into a bubble, some of the star’s outer layers became so dense that fusion of helium resumed there.
The renewed nuclear activity triggered another, much faster wind, blowing more material away. The interplay between old and new outflows has shaped the cloud’s complex structure, including the radial filaments that can be seen streaming from the collapsing star at the centre.
The interaction between slow and fast winds gusting in the environment of Abell 78 heated the gas to over a million degrees, making it shine brightly in X-rays. Astronomers detected this hot gas with ESA’s XMM-Newton space observatory, revealing striking similarities with another born-again planetary nebula, Abell 30.
This three-colour image combines X-ray data collected in 2013 by XMM-Newton (blue) with optical observations obtained using two special filters that reveal the glow of oxygen (green) and helium (red). The optical data were gathered in 2014 with the Andalusian Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera at the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma, in the Canary Islands. A study of the X-ray emission from Abell 78 is presented in a paper by J.A. Toalá et al. 2015.
Credit: ESA/XMM-Newton/J.A. Toalá et al. 2015
A very small and beautiful planetary nebula with some amazing facts about its central star. NGC 2440 lies about 4,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Puppis.
Its central star, HD 62166, is possibly the hottest known white dwarf, about 200,000°C which is 1,100 times of our Sun.
It was discovered by William Herschel on March 4, 1790. He described it as "a beautiful planetary nebula of a considerable degree of brightness, not very well defined." [Wikipedia]
A higher resolution image and full imaging details available at astrob.in/qnh4wy/0/
Remotely imaged over 3 nights from Los Coloraos, Gorafe, Spain.
364 x 120 second exposures.
Total image time: 12 hours 8 minutes
Telescope: Celestron C14 Edge HD
Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Pro cooled to -5C
Filter: ZWO UVIR Cut
Mount: EQ8-R
Captured with: NINA, processed with PixInsight and Adobe Lightroom Classic
Thank you for viewing!
This is the planetary nebula called Abell 12, also called “The Hidden Planetary” since it is somewhat masked by the star Mu Orionis. You can see the dim circle with a reddish border just to the upper left of the star. Once zoomed in and further processed I can just make out the 19.1 magnitude central star.
Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, Antares Focal Reducer, 60 x 30 second at -10C, 30 darks and 30 flats, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using Sequence Generator Pro and processed using PixInsight. Image date: March 2, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.
Messier 46
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
Messier 46 (M46) or NGC 2437, is an open cluster of stars in Puppis constellation at about 5,000 light-years.
The planetary nebula NGC 2438 appears on its northern edge, but it is unrelated with the cluster.
One of the more popular targets for astrophotography during the summer months the Dumbbell Nebula was created when a single star ejected large quantities of material to form a complex, expanding shell of glowing gas and dust surrounding that same parent star. Located in the constellation Vulpecula, this so-called planetary nebula passes high overhead in the late summer for observers in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere.
Photographed around midnight on July 8/9, 2016 from my light-polluted driveway using a 5” aperture refractor telescope and a QHY5III-178C camera (229 sub-exposures of 30 seconds each, giving a total integrated exposure time of 114.5 minutes).
Image capture was performed using Sequence Generator Pro with post processing done in PixInsight (image registration, integration, and initial adjustments) and Photoshop CC2015.
This photo is best seen in the Flickr light box or at full size (1920 x 1220 pixels).
All rights reserved.