NGC 2467 "Skull and Crossbones Nebula"

This very colorful star-forming region seen in this new image of NGC 2467 taken from SSRO in Chile.  Also known as the "Skull and Crossbones Nebula" is located in the constellation Puppis. Numerous stars and clusters come together to make this stunning stellar portrait.

One of the most notable clusters within NGC 2467, known as Haffner 18, houses around 50 stars—most are high-mass, but have already begun the transit into the celestial afterlife. They certainly help shape the pillars of gas and dust, but their role is negligible compared to that of HD 6315 located in the center of NGC 2467. This gargantuan star does most of the work. Its outbursts, ranging from flares, to coronal mass ejections and such, eject vast quantities of radiation into the nebular material, which has a carving effect. The dark splotches all around and in the nebula are Bok Globules. Within these regions, dust is packed together so tightly, light from embedded stars can’t break through.

75 Hours of exposure

NGC 1833 and its surroundings in the LMC by Zaytsev and Hanson

Here is a close look at the part of the LMC 8 supergiant shell [1-4] located South-West of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) containing the LH24 OB star association [5] with NGC 1833 emission nebula [6] and NGC 1837 open cluster [7] enclosed within obtained with the Chilescope T1 system (ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8). Manually annotated version of the image is shown in Fig. 1. A wider angle view of this region near the LMC was also obtained earlier using the Chilescope T3 system (ASA-N D=0.5m, f/3.8) [8], yes significantly more details of internal structure are revealed here for the three main diffuse structures:

NGC 1833 [6] showing a compact (8.4 ly across by the longer axis at estimated distance to LMC of 158 kly) neutral gas feature in the inner volume of the nebula shown in Fig. 2.

DEM L 75 HII region [9] and nearby emission nebula complex also featuring another compact (5.8 ly across by the longer axis at estimated distance to LMC) neutral gas feature appearing to be fully surrounded by ionization fronts as shown in Fig. 3.

A peculiar bipolar LHA 120-N 191 object [10, 11] consisting of a compact HII region on one side and a more diffuse emission nebula on the other side shown in Fig. 4. The range of linear scales for substructures for this region is 6-50 ly - estimated based on distance to the LMC. According to [10, 11] the start population physically associated with the compact HII region LHA 120-N 191A are “only” 3-8 Myr of age which accounts for the relative compactness and high density of this region.

Fig. 5 shows the annotated cropped view of the central part of the image that contains besides NGC 1833 [6] and NGC 1837 [7] a peculiar elliptical asterism situated around SP77 40-9 [12] long-period variable candidate star that is about 67 ly away based on Gaia DR3 parallax measurements [13, 14]. The asterism was first identified in the Chilescope T3 image [8] and given a reference name of “LMC SH8 X1”. Remarkably so, the structure appears even more apparent in the Chilescope T1 image, and also more details of the background diffuse structures are visible in it as illustrated in Fig. 6 showing the region of interest at 200% of original resolution:

Tiles (a) and (b) show the region in HOS colors with and without elliptical overlays showing where the main concentration of point-like sources forming the asterism. The dimensions of the overlays are 367px x 326px (in 100% of original resolution) = 100 arc.sec x 89 arc.sec (eccentricity 0.46) for the outer shell, and 290px x 257px (in 100% of original resolution) = 79 arc.sec x 70 arc.sec (also of eccentricity 0.46) for the inner shell.

Tile (c) shows the same HOS color version with an overlay showing available parallax data based on Gaia DR3 XPSD DB  [15, 16]. Only few stars in the elliptical band indicated have meaningful (positive) parallax values - these are shown with red underline - and these parallax values are in the range of 0.011 - 0.082 mas corresponding to 40 - 300 kly distance. The parallax of the central star SP77 40-9 [12] is measured as 0.0485 ± 0.0125 mas [17] corresponding to 67 ± 17 kly.

Tile (d) shows the same scene with all diffuse components removed to emphasize the point-like sources component.

Tiles (e) and (f) are showing the same scene in B&W with the attempt to run the aperture photometry analysis procedure with PixInsight on it. Most of the faint sources in the asterism aren’t picked up by this procedure.

The angular diameter of the elliptical shells of 70-100 arc.sec correspond to 23 - 32 ly of linear size at the distance of 67 kly or 54 - 77 ly - at the distance to the LMC of 158 kly.

NGC 2018


This Chaotic Cluster of Gas an area within the Large Magellanic Cloud that is very rarely imaged, NGC 2018 is an emission nebula with a star cluster.


Imaged in LRGBSHO at El Sauce, Obstech, Chile on our 24” CDK


Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Enjoy,


Mark
http://hansonastronomy.com

"Tarantula Nebula or Butterfly?"

It is the largest and most complex star forming region in the entire galactic neighborhood. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy orbiting our Milky Way galaxy, the region's spidery appearance is responsible for its popular name, the Tarantula nebula.

This tarantula, however, is about 1,000 light-years across. Were it placed at the distance of Milky Way's Orion Nebula, only 1,500 light-years distant and the nearest stellar nursery to Earth, it would appear to cover about 30 degrees (60 full moons) on the sky. Intriguing details of the nebula are visible in the following images shown in colors emitted predominantly by hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur as well as red, green and blue.

The spindly arms of the Tarantula nebula surround NGC 2070, a star cluster that contains some of the brightest, most massive stars known, visible in this butterfly like section of the image. Since massive stars live fast and die young, it is not so surprising that the cosmic Tarantula also lies near the site of the closest recent supernova.

3 versions of this nebula, all quite different. SHORGB, RGBHaO3, and A Hybrid image

Imaged in LRGB with our PlaneWave CDK 24 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

RGB-HA-O3-S2

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Data SWOS: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman

Enjoy,

Mark

Title:  NGC 1871 The Portuguese Man O' War

In the dark void of our close galactic neighbor “The Large Magellanic Cloud” we find this rarely seen area NGC 1871 - The Portuguese Man O' War. Blinded by the trillions of stars lies the expansive area of emission nebula, Supernovas, Globular and open clusters.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson Description: Alexander Zaytsev

Enjoy, Mark & Alex

This wonderful and extensive description buy Alexander Zaytsev

Nebulae complexes and star clusters in the vicinity of Theta Dor 

The area in between Theta Dor [1] star and NGC 1871 open star cluster [2] in the vicinity of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) contains an incredibly complex nebula complex comprised of HII regions, ionization fronts and supernova remnants (SNRs) that is complemented by other peculiarly shaped dim diffuse structures and the adornment of multiple globular and open star clusters stretching 40 arc.min West of Theta Dor. Since most of the diffuse structures in this frame belong to the LMC, the linear size of the sides of the image of 51.9 arc.min by 36 arc.min can be estimated as 1.82 kly by 1.26 kly at the distance to LMC taken as 158 kly.

Fig. 1 shows the upper left corner of the original image containing Theta Dor and multiple HII regions, SNRs, and star clusters of which the most prominent ones are:

A group of two adjacent HII regions DEM L 107 [3] and MCELS L-152 [4] in the vicinity of Theta Dor, containing what appears to be several neutral gas clouds with ionization fronts on the periphery (marked as (a) - (c) in Fig. 1).

A pair of HII regions DEM L 99 [5] and DEM L 90 [6] less complex on internal structure.

A pair of compact HII regions LHA 120-N 26 [7] and LHA 120-N 27 [8].

Compact SNR [FHW95] LMC B0512-6710 [9],

Open star clusters BSDL 850 [10], KMHK 616 [11], and 2MASX J05113171-6658315 [12] of which the latter much resembles a globular cluster but appears to be fully resolved up to the core and is accompanied by a background galaxy 2MASS J05114560-6657411 [13].

It appears that Theta Dor has extensive nebulosity around it with a radially symmetrical component which might be physically related to that star. Since the estimated distance to Theta Dor is 490 ly, it is possible that there is an overlap of much closer nebular on top of more distant structures belonging to the LMC here.

Fig. 2 shows the lower left portion of the of the original image containing the other two emission nebulae complexes connected to star associations NGC 1869 [14], NGC 1871 [15], and NGC 1873 [16] containing what appears to be two ionization fronts (marked as (a) and (b) in Fig. 2). In between of the two emission nebula complexes there appears to be a spherical region that could be identified as SNR LI-LMC 642 [17]. The other two prominent structures here are an emission nebula identifiable as LHA 120-N 30D [18] and a neutral gas cloud [LLS2019] 18 [19] sitting in the gap separating it from the outer wall of the nebula surrounding NGC 1871 star association.

Fig. 3 shows the lower right portion of the of the original image in which the most noticeable objects are:

Spread-around globular cluster NGC 1846 [20].

Open star clusters NGC 1842 [21] and NGC 1844 [22] that both resemble globular clusters, but getting resolved nearly to the core.

Compact SNR B0509-67.5 [23-25] also known as “Red Bubble” [26] that much resembles a planetary nebula but shows the characteristic fine structure of shock fronts on its boundary in the image obtained by the HST and Chandra [27-29]. 

Small open star cluster H88 188 [30].

The estimated physical diameter of the “Red Bubble” SNR is 23 ly [26] and the age estimate for it is only 400 ± 120 years old [24, 25] which makes it one of the youngest known SNRs in the radius of 200 kly and also one of just a few SNRs for which the light echo age was ever measured [31, 32]. While the SNR B0509-67.5 might be the object that received most attention in the literature so far in this entire region, the structure of the nebule surrounding Theta Dor and NGC 1871 association deserves further exploration with large aperture instruments.

Title:

LHA 120-N55 emission nebula complex by Zaytsev and Hanson

North-East of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a peculiar combination interstellar shell, emission nebulae, and a collection of shock fronts forming a structure that we called earlier a “Flying Owl Nebula” is located, for which an earlier image was obtained using the Chilescope T3 system (ASA-N D=0.5m, f/3.8) [1]. Here we present the close-up view on one of them - the LHA 120-N55 emission nebula complex / N55 molecular cloud of the LMC [2, 3], obtained with the Chilescope T1 system (ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8) comprised of the following tightly coupled structures - also shown in Fig. 1:

LHA 120-N55A star forming region [4],

DEM L 228{a, b} HII regions [5] arranged into a bi-polar shape with a bridge in the middle, that appears to be a nebula associated with WBBe LH 72 13 Be star candidate [6].

Fig. 1. The central part of the image containing the following structures: (a) LHA 120-N55A star forming region [4] and (b) DEM L 228{a, b} HII regions [5] arranged into an unusual bi-polar shape with a bridge in the middle, that appears to be a nebula associated with WBBe LH 72 13 Be star candidate [6]. Shown at 100% of the original image resolution.

As LHA 120-N55 physically belongs to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) [2, 3], the linear size of the side of the image of 18.5 arc.min can be estimated as 650 ly at the distance to LMC taken as 158 kly.

Fig. 2 shows the part of the image containing the DEM L 228{a, b} HII regions and WBBe LH 72 13 Be star candidate at 150% of the original resolution.Two most striking features here is the spiral structure of the formed out of neutral gas clouds inside the DEM L 228b region and the “bridge” connecting the DEM L 228{a, b} regions of the estimated physical length of about 13 ly at the distance to the LMC. There appears to be a neutral gas tendril present inside that compact nebula extending from the central star to the periphery of the nebula as well.

Fig. 2. Part of the original image containing the DEM L 228{a, b} HII regions [5] and WBBe LH 72 13 Be star candidate [6]. Shown at 150% of the original image resolution.

Fig. 3 shows the part of the image containing the LHA 120-N55A star forming region [4] hosting the LH 72 OB star association [7, 8] and a rather beautiful collection of compact neutral gas clouds, ionization fronts and shock fronts. The brightest stars of the LH 72 appear to have shock fronts or compact toroidal diffuse structures associated with them. The linear scale estimate for both structures is in the 9.4-9.7 ly range given the distance to the LMC. 

Fig. 3. Part of the original image containing the LHA 120-N55A star forming region [4], shown at 200% of the original image resolution. Shock front (a) and toroidal diffuse structure (b) associated with bright stars of the LH 72 OB association [7, 8].

The highest resolution image available up to date for this OB association is one obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC2 / WFC3 instruments using Ha, UV and visual spectrum data [9]. Fig. 4 shows the cropped version of the original image at 200% resolution with the HST image [9] added as a semi-transparent overlay thus making it easy to identify all of the small structural features of this region detected in both images. This entire nebula complex is undoubtedly a good candidate for study with even larger apertures, particularly for the interior part of the LHA 120-N55A region and the compact nebula surrounding the WBBe LH 72 13.

Fig. 4. Part of the original image containing the LHA 120-N55A star forming region [4], shown at 200% of the original image resolution with the overlay of the HST image [9] added in matching mirroring and orientation.. 

Data and initial calibration/integration: Alexandr Zaytsev https://www.astrobin.com/users/m57ring/

ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8 on alt-azimuthal direct drive fork mount, FLI ProLine 16803 with secondary mirror based motorized focusing and automatic de-rotation (Telescope #1 system of ChileScope observatory, Río Hurtado Valley, Chile).

14x Ha + 11x OIII + 11x SII guided 1200 sec exposures (12h of combined integral) collected over 8 imaging sessions carried out on Aug 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 2024 using Chilescope Telescope #1 system.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson https://www.hansonastronomy.com 

Enjoy, Mark and Alex

[1] https://www.astrobin.com/lobsen/ 

[2] https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.01653 

[3] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1801.01653 

[4] https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=LHA+120-N+55A&  

[5] https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=DEM+L+228a& , https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=DEM+L+228b& 

[6] https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=%405126669&Name=WBBe%20LH%2072%2013&submit=submit 

[7] https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0102444 

[8] https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0102444 

[9] https://esahubble.org/images/potw1147a/

Ten thousand years ago, before the dawn of recorded human history, a new light would have suddenly have appeared in the night sky and faded after a few weeks. Today we know this light was from a supernova, or exploding star, and record the expanding debris cloud as the Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant. This sharp telescopic view is centered on a western segment of the Veil Nebula cataloged as NGC 6960 but less formally known as the Witch's Broom Nebula. Blasted out in the cataclysmic explosion, the interstellar shock wave plows through space sweeping up and exciting interstellar material. Imaged with narrow band filters, the glowing filaments are like long ripples in a sheet seen almost edge on, remarkably well separated into atomic hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue-green) gas. The complete supernova remnant lies about 1400 light-years away towards the constellation Cygnus. This Witch's Broom actually spans about 35 light-years. The bright star in the frame is 52 Cygni, visible with the unaided eye from a dark location but unrelated to the ancient supernova remnant.

IC 417 , sometimes known as Spider Nebula , is a large visible nebula visible in the constellation of Auriga ; it is linked to Stock 8 and is home to important star formation processes.

Ced 90 or Sh2-297 in the Seagull Nebula

Ced90 or Sh2-297 is an emission nebula in the constellation Canis Major. The region was catalogued in 1959 in the extended seconded edition of the Sharpless catalogue. This area of Canis Major is a very active area of new star formation.

Studies in 1988 found that the bright star illuminating the nebula was 8th magnitude HD 53623 / HIP 34178 with spectral class B1II/III. Later in 2004 it was shown that there was embedded a cold but massive Young Stellar Object or YSO within Sh2-297 near the edge of one of the dark rifts. This object has been observed in the far-infrared, but it is so deeply embedded in an interstellar cloud that it is undetectable in shorter wavelength observations such as the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), leading it to be originally named “Unidentified young stellar object 1” or UYSO-1.

It was further revealed that this unseen stellar source produces a carbon monoxide (CO) bipolar outflow with a total mass of 5.4 M☉ solar masses, while the surrounding extended envelope weighs 30 M☉–40 M☉. Some 96 other YSOs have been discovered to be part of Sh-297, having a mean age of one million years and range in masses between 0.3 M☉ and 2.0 M☉.[1] Many variable stars are also assigned with this nebula complex, including the three brightest: MW Ori, TT Ori and V559 Ori. Distance is estimated between 1.0 and 1.4 kpc. (3,300–4,600 ly.),[1] averaging 1.2 kpc. or 3,900 ly.

This region was catalogued as part of the major clustering of reflection nebula as CMa R1 by van den Bergh in 1966.Reflection nebulas were identified on blue plates of the Palomar Sky Survey, with positive confirmation made by checking nebulosity on the red plates. It was again later catalogued as LBN 1037 or LBN 225.27-02.42

SWO at Dark Sky New Mexico
17”CDK  Ha 630, Luminance 300, Red 280, Green 280, Blue 280

Enjoy,

Mark

Veil Nebula (A) = Simeis 3-210
20 53 07 +29 39.0
Simeis 3-210 is a long, thin filament at the extreme southern end of the Veil Nebula and is virtually unknown (not listed separately in SIMBAD), although it is outlined on the U2000 and Millennium star atlases. Although much fainter than the other main sections of the Veil, Simeis 3-210 was easily picked up at 105x using an OIII filter as it passes through mag 6.4 HD 198976. This narrow strand is extended N-S at least 20' with the northern half mainly consisting of an elongated patch (~3'x1'), centered about 6' NNE of the bright star. The southern section is a very dim filament beginning at the mag 6.4 star though it brightens somewhat ~10' SSW of the star. There also appears to be some streaky, detached nebulosity just west of a mag 7.7 star further south, extending the total length to 25'-30'.

PP 81 - Cometary Reflection Nebula

In Barnard 228 a large molecular cloud in the constellation Lupus resides eerie but wonderful cometary reflection nebula hiding in the dark expanse of gas also called “The Dark Wolf Nebula”.  It is one of the most beautiful hidden cometary reflection nebula in the sky. HRC248n a 15th magnitude star that illuminates this cocoon of nebulosity.

PP 81 stands for: Parsamian Petrosian 81 and is a catalog of Cometary Nebula and related objects. You can see tons of Information here:

https://combao.bao.am/AllIssues/2019/70-88.pdf

.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Data: Martin Pugh

Enjoy, Mark

X marks the spot

Vela Super Nova remnant piece

This small part of the Vela Supernova remnant is quite the sight. You could spend years imaging this remnant at this focal length. Check out the image from Dark Energy Camera Below these 2 images, its quite amazing.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Data: Martin Pugh

Riccardi Honders- 9.5hrs Ha, 10.5hrs SII, 5.5 hours OIII and 30 minutes per RGB filter for stars.

Enjoy, Mark

Hot blue stars shine brightly in this beautiful, recently formed galactic or "open" star cluster. Open cluster NGC 3293 is located in the constellation Carina, lies at a distance of about 8000 light years, and has a particularly high abundance of these young bright stars. A study of NGC 3293 implies that the blue stars are only about 6 million years old, whereas the cluster's dimmer, redder stars appear to be about 20 million years old. If true, star formation in this open cluster took at least 15 million years. Even this amount of time is short, however, when compared with the billions of years stars like our Sun live, and the over-ten billion year lifetimes of many galaxies and our universe. Pictured, NGC 3293 appears just in front of a dense dust lane and red glowing hydrogen gas emanating from the Carina Nebula.

RCW 85 HII region / SFO 74 in Centaurus

RCW 85 HII region / SFO (Star Forming Region) 74 [1-4] around HD 125158 star [5] consists of a prominent ionization front, complete with “wing rims” on both sides followed by a large collection of neutral gas clouds stretching across the area in the sky almost 0.6 deg across. With the distance to RCW 85 estimated at 1.5 kpc [4] that angular size corresponds to a linear size of about 16 pc. A detailed summary of structure of the shock front of SFO 74 is given in Fig. 10-12 from [4] as shown in Fig. S1.



Fig. S1. The structure of the shock front of SFO 74 as given in Fig. 10-12 in [4].
The “exciting star” for the main ionization front of RCW 85 / SFO 74 as identified in [6, 7] is HD 124314 [8] which is located at a significant angular distance from the front, as shown in Fig. S2, yet the estimated linear distance between them is estimated to be “only” about 15 pc.



Fig. S2. Identifying the ionizing star HD 124314 [8] for the shock front of RCW 85 / SFO 74, using the data from a wide angle image for the same area of the sky available under [9].


The most active area of star formation identified in this region in [4] as “Cloud B”, is rather compact: only 2 arc.min across, which is under 1pc of linear size at the estimated distance, and located behind the “tip rim” of the shock front, as illustrated in Fig. S3.


Fig. S3. The most active star formation region in RCW 85 / SFO 74 according to [4].


[1] http://galaxymap.org/cat/view/rcw/85

[2] https://arxiv.org/abs/1411.1813

[3] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1411.1813.pdf

[4] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/798/1/60/pdf

[5] https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=HD+125158&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id

[6] https://arxiv.org/abs/0902.4751

[7] https://arxiv.org/pdf/0902.4751.pdf

[8] https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=+HD+124314&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id

[9] https://www.astrobin.com/nuqbfs/E/  

Wolf-Rayet 23 (HD92809)

Here is a nice bubble surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star “WR23”. Located in Carina nebula, close to the more famous Gabriel Mistral Nebula and Gem Cluster.

Wolf-Rayet stars are hot massive stars that are experiencing a normal evolution for very large stars where they lose orders of magnitude more solar mass each year in comparison to our Sun.
They form a very strong solar wind that interacts with the interstellar medium, often producing "bubbles", as shown here.
Wolf-Rayet stars are very rare stars in our Milky Way galaxy. There are approximately 500 or so of these Wolf-Rayet stars in our Milky Way galaxy, so that is not very many.
Imaged with a 24” Planewave telescope with Sbig 16803 using LRGBHAO2S2 filters.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Data: Mazlin, Forman, Parker, Hanson
Enjoy, Mark Hanson

Sandqvist 111-112

Sandqvist 111 and 112 is a dark nebula in the southeast quadrant of the Gum Nebula, located in the constellation Vela and surrounded by a larger emission nebula. They may be associated with the cometary globules of the Puppis-Vela complex.

There are three other interesting objects around this nebula as well.

To the middle right of the image, we can see HH 46-47 (Herbig-Haro Objects) which are bright patches of nebulosity associated with newborn stars. They are formed when narrow jets of partially ionized gas are ejected by stars and collide with nearby clouds of gas and dust at several hundred kilometers per second.


The Yellow nebula (bottom left center) VDBH 16 - a young star in nebula. I could not find much information on this nebula. Looks like an HH object here as well.

Imaged in LRGB and H alpha on CDK 24 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Data: Martin Pugh

Enjoy,

Mark

NGC 6357 “Kaleidoscope in the sky”

This is one of the most fascinating and colorful nebulae in the cosmos!
Lightyears of woven dust and gasses like a priceless work of art. It’s intricate details of shapes from pillars, mountains, caverns, and wispy intricate fragments. The colors are impressive as well, the blues from Oxygen, the reds from Hydrogen and the yellows from Sulfur. All together they look as if you’re peering into a kaleidoscope. Quite the sight.
NGC 6357 also known as the Lobster Nebula and War and Peace Nebula is a large emission nebula located approximately 5,900 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.
The nebula contains many proto-stars (which are very young stars that are still gathering mass from their parent molecular cloud). These stars are shielded by dark discs of gas and wrapped in expanding "cocoons" or expanding gases surrounding these small stars.
The nebula contains many unusually massive stars whose interstellar winds, powerful magnetic fields, gravity, and radiation pressures are carving complex structures in the surrounding dust and gas. The hot, luminous O-type stars are the main ionizing source in the area.
The nebula hosts several massive young star clusters and is one of the most prominent star-forming regions in the southern sky.
Open star cluster Pismis 24 near its center (left center in this image) is one of the brightest stars in the cluster, Pismis 24-1, was thought possibly to be the most massive on record, approaching 300 solar masses, until it was discovered to be a multiple system of at least three stars; component stars would still remain near 100 solar masses each, making them among the more massive stars on record.
Data: SWOS, Mazlin, Forman, Parker, Hanson
Image calibration and processing: Mark Hanson
24” Planewave CDK, SBIG 16803, L600 mount.
Enjoy,
Mark Hanson

WR-102
Wolf-Rayet 102 is a very rare star in our Milky Way galaxy. There are approximately 500 or so of these Wolf-Rayet stars in our Milky Way galaxy, so that is not very many.
These stars are evolved, massive stars that have completely lost their outer hydrogen and are fusing helium and heavier elements in the core. WR 102 is in its final stages of nuclear fusion, near or beyond the end of helium burning. It’s likely it only has a few thousand years to exist before it explodes.
WR102 is 200,000 degrees hotter than our sun and the hottest star ever recorded. These fascinating astronomical objects provide a glimpse into the extreme conditions of our Milky Way galaxy.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Data: Martin Pugh
Enjoy, Mark Hanson

WR-8 “Fireworks in space”
This strange image looks like fireworks on 4th of July but it’s not but is a rarely imaged Wolf -Rayet Star. In the constellation Puppis.
Wolf-Rayet stars are massive stars in advanced evolution stage. They have mass outflows and strong ionization photons. WR8 has a known H-alpha outflow bubble/shell surrounded by large-scale H-alpha emission from the interstellar medium. The ejected gas is often highly ionized, with powerful OIII emissions (Seen here in blue) This is the first image I have seen showing the extended O3 Shell.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Data: Martin Pugh
Enjoy, Mark Hanson

NGC 6188/6193 “The Cluster of Chaos”
NGC 6188 is an emission nebula located about 4,000 light years away in the constellation Ara and is a star forming nebula, and is sculpted by the massive, young stars that have recently formed there – some are only a few million years old. This spark of formation was probably caused when the last batch of stars went supernova.
The bright open cluster NGC 6193 (also known as Caldwell 82) containing 27 is visible to the naked eye, is responsible for a region of reflection nebulosity within NGC 6188. The cluster is associated with (and provides the energizing radiation for) neighboring regions of the nebulosity NGC 6188
PlaneWave CDK 24 LRGBHaO3S2 from El Sauce, Chile.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Data: SWOS Team – Mazlin, Forman, Parker, Hanson

Enjoy,

Mark Hanson
www.hansonastronomy.com

RCW 89
RCW 89 is located about 17,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Circinus. It is part of the RCW Catalogue, which lists H-emission regions in the southern Milky Way from Rodgers, Campbell & Whiteoak. RCW 89 is an emission nebula that contains a young supernova remnant and one of the most advanced pulsars in our galaxy.
It is one of the most fascinating examples of how pulsars can create their surroundings with their powerful winds.
This pulsar spins approximately 7 times per second and emits powerful jets of energy and particles that create a cloaked warbird-shaped structure. The "Jets" of this cosmic ship are moving at almost 9 million miles per hour as they hit a cloud of gas called RCW 89.

Processing: Mark Hanson
Data: Martin Pugh
Enjoy, Mark Hanson

CG 30 and 31 are a cometary globule grouping located in Puppies within the Gum Nebula. The area consists of several globules and dark dust clouds as well as Herbig Haro object HH 120.
The Globules are estimated to be 1000 light years from here.
A cometary globule is an interstellar cloud with comet-like morphology, consisting of compact, dusty opaque heads with long faintly luminous tails. Unlike dark nebulae or dark dust clouds, CG’s are isolated neutral globules surrounded by a hot ionized medium.
Cometary Globules were only recently identified in 1976.
Imaged in LRGB and H alpha on our RiDK 500 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Integration Time: 40 hours
Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

Sh2-301 or Gum 5
Is an emission nebula in the constellation of Canis Major.
This spectacle rich in Oxygen, Hydrogen and Sulfur emissions is often overlooked as it’s close to Thor’s Helmet and the Vela super nova remnant.
It has a lot of structure as well, many small columns of dust and gas, wispy blue areas of oxygen and a nice Bok globule in the center.
This is one of the most detailed amateur photographs of this object to date. Overall, a very good target for a large amateur telescope.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Data: Martin Pugh
Enjoy, Mark Hanson

NGC 3576 is a minor nebula in the Sagittarius arm of the galaxy a few thousand light-years away from the Eta Carinae nebula. This nebula even received six different classification numbers. Currently, astronomers call the entire nebula NGC 3576. A popular nickname is "The Statue of Liberty Nebula" because of the distinctive shape in the middle of the nebula. The name was first suggested in 2009 by Dr. Steve Mazlin, a member of Star Shadows Remote Observatory (SSRO).

Explanation: An intriguing and beautiful nebula, NGC 3576 drifts through the Sagittarius arm of our spiral Milky Way Galaxy. Within the region, episodes of star formation are thought to contribute to the complex and suggestive shapes. Powerful winds from the nebula's embedded, young, massive stars shape the looping filaments. The dramatic false-color image also highlights the contributions of hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen, energized by intense ultraviolet radiation, to the nebular glow. But the glow also silhouettes dense clouds of dust and gas. For example, the two condensing dark clouds near the top of the picture offer potential sites for the formation of new stars. NGC 3576 itself is about 100 light-years across and 9,000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Carina, not far on the sky from the famous Eta Carinae Nebula.

V1025 Tau and its Associated Reflection Nebula by Zaytsev and Hanson
Herbig Ae/Be variable star V1025 Tau [1, 2] with its associated reflection nebula GN 04.32.8 reflection nebula [3] embedded into a sub-region of the Taurus Molecular Cloud is the brightest component of a young star group surrounding a variable star V* HP Tau [4] in which group the V1025 Tau itself is identified as CoKu (Cohen+Kuhi) HP Tau/G2 and other two components are CoKu HP Tau/G1 [5] and CoKu HP Tau/G3 [6]. According to the GCVS variability classification scheme [7] the CoKu HP Tau/G2 is an Orion type variable (“irregular, eruptive variables connected with bright or dark diffuse nebulae or observed in the regions of these nebulae”) located at a distance of about 161 pc as measured by VLBA using the direct parallax method [8, 9], at which distance the edge of the image frame corresponds to 2.7 ly = 169 kAU. Manually annotated cropped view to

The CoKu HP Tau/G2 and CoKu HP Tau/G3 are believed to form a gravitationally bound system according to [8, 9] and on top of that both V* HP Tau and CoKu HP Tau/G3 were confirmed to be tight binaries by themselves based on lunar occultation data analysis under [10, 11] and the orbital solution for HP Tau/G3 can be found in [12, 13]. Thus, the CoKu HP Tau/G2 plus CoKu HP Tau/G3 system appears to be a hierarchical triple star system [8, 9]. Furthermore, treating the V* HP Tau plus CoKu HP Tau/G2 plus CoKu HP Tau/G3 as a wide triple system (intentionally neglecting tightly coupled components of V* HP Tau and CoKu HP Tau/G3) [14, 15] gives masses for its components as 0.94, 2.49, 0.72 Solar masses correspondingly, with separation between CoKu HP Tau/G2 and V* HP Tau determined to be 3089 AU and separation between CoKu HP Tau/G2 and Coku HP Tau/G3 determined to be 1463 AU. The age of these three stars is estimated to be in the range of only 3-8 Myr, with CoKu HP Tau/G3 being the youngest and CoKu HP Tau/G2 - the oldest in the group [8, 9].

The reflection nebula surrounding the HP Tau group consists of multiple concentric fronts of which the brightness drops and average radial width - increases as they move away from the central CoKu HP Tau/G2 (V1025 Tau) star. The curvature diameter of the smallest curved front features visible in the core of the nebula is about 0.043 ly = 2735 AU based on the estimated distance to the star from above. Another set of non-concentric fronts exists here as well, some of which seemingly associated with V* HQ Tau star located 5 arc.min away from HP Tau/G2 in the lower right part of the image frame. Many of the fronts are with peculiar 120 deg bends and junction points. The entire set of fronts is embedded in a dark cloud showing hints of an even more peculiar spiral structure reaching out to the edge of the frame. Simple attempt to fit the most prominent curved fronts in the central part of the image with circular shells centered (or nearly centered) on the stars belonging to the HP Tau group and the nearby stars visible in the FOV is given below in Fig. S2. Interestingly enough, some of those fit rather well (each circle is provided with the indicator of a center). Further study is needed to attempt a 3D reconstruction of this region and its relation to the Taurus Molecular Cloud situated in the range of distances between 130 and 160 pc according to [16, 17], so the V1025 Tau is actually expected to sit behind most of the structures of that dark cloud.

The Carina Nebula and “The Lost Relics”
The Carina nebula is one of the best known and most prominent nebulae in the Southern Sky also known as The Carina Nebula , Eta Carina Nebula NGC 3372as well as Great Carina Nebula .
It’s one of the largest diffuse nebulae in our skies. Although it is four times as large as and even brighter than the famous Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is much less well known due to its location in the southern sky.
This 2-pane mosaic also includes what’s called the south pillars (of Carina) the most notable from Hubble space telescope image is HH666 it takes up most of the right side of the image and is quite faint and seemingly shadowed from the foreground gases. The rest of these pillars have no names that I can find, and there are a lot of them.
See if you can find them. The Seahorse Pillar, The Cat-a-pillar, Knifes Edge Pillar, Twin Peaks Pillars, The Beehive Pillar, Twin Pillars, Shady Mountain Pillars, Stalagmite Pillar
Image Processing and Calibration: Mark Hanson
Data Collection: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman
Telescope1: 24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
Enjoy, Mark

NGC 3247 – RCW49
NGC3247 in the Carina constellation around 20,000 light-years away is an often-overlooked structure in the southern skies due to the Eta Carina Nebula being a brighter and a highly impressive target so close by.
The HII Ionized region in the upper right corner of this image is NGC 3247. The very dim nebula to the left and bottom right corner are very rarely imaged at this resolution. A fair amount of structure is visible that I have not seen before. These would certainly be great targets for a larger telescope.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Data Collection: Martin Pugh
Telescope1: 17" Planewave CDK f6.5 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
Enjoy, Mark

Nested Bubbles of the Northeastern SMC by Zaytsev and Hanson

The image is covering the central part of a large collection of HII regions, supernova remnants (SNRs), and interstellar neutral hydrogen (HI) shells found in the Northeast region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) spanning about 1.1 kly corresponding to the angular size of the frame at the distance to the SMC (61 kpc).

The central part of the image is taken by the LHA 115-N 78 HII complex [1] which is about 160 ly across (linear equivalent at a distance to the SMC) featuring many accompanying structures including a planetary nebula candidate [2], open star cluster IC 1624 [3, 4] caught in the crossing of several shock fronts (shown in a cropped image below at 100% of original resolution), complete with great many small scale structures visible in the inner volume of the “main bubble” of the complex.



One of the most noticeable of those small structures is a “torii gate” structure highlighted by red markings on the cropped image below (shown at 200% scale to the original resolution) which is only about 10 arc.sec across, but still corresponding to an impressive 9.6 ly of linear scale (given the distance to the SMC). This particular area could be of interest to study with larger aperture systems.



The list of peculiar objects in this frame is continued by a compact DEM S131 HII region [5] at the top side of the image shown in a cropped image below (at 150% scale to the original resolution) with IKT 25 X-ray binary [6] in the middle which is identified as a Type Ia SNR in [7].



A larger but fainter Q-shaped diffuse structure is visible in the mid-left side of the frame, a part of which is identified as DEM S132 HII region [8].

Many dark nebulae are visible across the frame, many of which are surveyed under [9, 10], showing well against the backdrop of the inner volume of the HII regions. A noteworthy set of nested radial shock fronts is also found in the lower right corner.

Data and initial calibration/integration: Alexandr Zaytsev https://www.astrobin.com/users/m57ring/

ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8 on alt-azimuthal direct drive fork mount, FLI ProLine 16803 with secondary mirror based motorized focusing and automatic de-rotation (Telescope #1 system of ChileScope observatory, Río Hurtado Valley, Chile).

12x Ha + 10x OIII + 9x SII guided 1200 sec exposures (10h 20min of combined integral) collected over 7 imaging sessions carried out on Nov 28, 30 of 2023 and Dec 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 of 2023 using Chilescope Telescope #1 system.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson https://www.hansonastronomy.com

Partial star suppression applied to highlight the details of the diffuse structures, including those in the backdrop.

Enjoy, Mark and Alex

Vela Super Nova Remanent

Just small piece of this spectacular Super nova Remanent

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

NGC 2014
Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, NGC 2014 is the large red nebula in this frame with NGC 2020 shining blue shaped by a huge Wolf Rayet star that has ejected its outer layers. The Wolf Rayet star that lights NGC 2020 shines 200,000 times brighter than our sun. NGC 2014 contains a group of large bright stars which are 10 to 20 times larger than our sun. The ultraviolet radiation from these stars has heated the surrounding gas causing the formation of bubble-like structures. The area continues to have active star formation.

Imaged in HOO narrowband and RGB for star color on our Planewave CDK 700 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson.

www.hansonastronomy.com
www.throughlightandtime.com


Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

NGC 6729
Description from AOPOD:
Cosmic dust clouds and young, energetic stars inhabit this telescopic vista, less than 500 light-years away toward the northern boundary of Corona Australis, the Southern Crown.
The dust clouds effectively block light from distant background stars in the Milky Way. But the striking complex of reflection nebulae cataloged as NGC 6726, 6727, and IC 4812 produce a characteristic blue color as light from the region's young hot stars is reflected by the cosmic dust. The dust also obscures from view stars still in the process of formation. At the left, smaller yellowish nebula NGC 6729 bends around young variable star R Coronae Australis.
Just below it, glowing arcs and loops shocked by outflows from embedded newborn stars are identified as Herbig-Haro objects. On the sky this field of view spans about 1 degree. That corresponds to almost 9 light-years at the estimated distance of the nearby star forming region.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Data: SSRO Arcive 2017
Telescope:16" RCOS f11.2 Planewave HD Mount
Camera: FLI 16803
Location: SSRO, Cito Chile

NGC 6729 the fan shaped object in the center of the image is a reflection and emission nebula that is a variable nebula located 424 light years from Earth in one of the closest star forming regions. It is powered by the irregular variable star, R Coronae Australis (R CrA). NGC 6726/6727 are blue reflection nebulae, where bright stars are embedded in a large cloud of dust which reflects the blue light of the stars. Herbig Haro objects are shown as small arcs of glowing gas. They originate as outflows from embryonic stars that are still forming inside the surrounding gas and dust. Framing this spectacle is Bernes 157 a dark nebula that is so dense that stars inside the nebula and behind it cannot shine through.Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave CDK 1000 (luminance) and CDK 700 RGB color at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby www.throughlightandtime.com www.hansonastronomy.com

VDB 123
This colorful nebula is embedded in a large cloud of dust and gas known as the Serpens Cloud3. This cloud overlays a rich field of background Milky Way stars. These background stars appear to be heavily "reddened" by the cloud's intervening dust. A large dark nebula extending throughout the region is cataloged Dobashi 12605,6. These areas of dense dust obscures background stars and other celestial objects. The bright blue central nebula shines from light reflected from the bright star designed HD 1706341. The blue color is a result of the surrounding dust reflecting the shorter wavelengths of light more efficiently than longer wavelengths. This is essentially the same phenomena that makes our Earthly sky appear blue.
Standing out in contrast to VDB 123 just to the right of the blue vdB nebula is a red/orange bi-polar nebula known as the Serpens Reflection Nebula. (SNR)4 It is being illuminated by the relative low mass star designated Serpens/SVS 24. The nebula's outflow appears to be heavily influenced by embedded magnetic fields. This may have triggered the bi-polar shape of the nebula.
Imaged in LRGB with our PlaneWave CDK 24 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson
Data: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman
www.hansonastronomy.com
Enjoy,
Mark

RCW 71 (Gum 46) nebula in LRGBHOS colors by Zaytsev and Hanson

RCW 71 (Gum 46) nebula [1] is located behind the Coalsack dark nebula at a distance of about 6.8 kly [2, 3] and thus getting significantly reddened due to light absorption by that dark nebula. The bulk of Coalsack nebula sits at a much closer distance of about 650 ly with the secondary dark clouds located as far as 10 kly in its corners [4, 5] but not where the RCW 71 is situated. Thus, RCW 71 gets most of the attenuation from that bulk of the Coalsack nebula and thus is easily detectable even on wide angle images of the area such as [6] as a bright red spot of about 2 arc. min in diameter. At the measured distance of 6.8 kly this angular diameter corresponds to the linear size of about 4 ly for the core (the HII region) of RCW 71.

Earlier observations of this object by Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) [7] revealed that it is surrounded by a ring of infrared emissions in the MSX A (8 mkm) spectral band [2, 3] for which the optical counterpart in Ha is revealed for the first time in this new image extending as far as 6 arc. min from the central star (HD 311999). Many additional details can be seen here in the core of the nebula such as two incomplete circles of dark nebulae filaments and what appears to be an ionization shock front about 1 arc.min away from the central star (above it in the specific orientation of the image). Another interesting feature revealed in the halo is what appears to be a thick dark filament stretching from the core of RCW 71 into the top right corner of the image which could be at least partially a denser part of Coalsack nebula overlapping with more distant structures.

Unfortunately, the RCW 71 was just left out of the survey bands of Spitzer IRAC Equatorial Survey [8, 9] so further cross-referencing of the fine details of the optical counterpart of the halo in near-IR is difficult. However Herschel targeted this object over several observation sessions and produced details narrow FOV [10] and wide angle FOV [11] views of it in 100-160 mkm and 250-500 mkm spectral bands correspondingly that do confirm the presence of the diffuse halo around RCW 71 of up to 12 arc. min distance from the core of the nebula.

Data and initial calibration/integration: Alexandr Zaytsev https://www.astrobin.com/users/m57ring/

ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8 on alt-azimuthal direct drive fork mount, FLI ProLine 16803 with secondary mirror based motorized focusing and automatic de-rotation (Telescope #1 system of ChileScope observatory, Río Hurtado Valley, Chile).


• 8x Lum + 6x R + 5x G + 5x B guided 300 sec exposures (2h of combined LRGB integral) collected over a single imaging sessions carried out on Apr 9, 2022 using Chilescope Telescope #1 system.


• 11x Ha + 9x OIII + 10x SII guided 1200 sec exposures (10h of combined HOS integral) collected over 8 imaging sessions carried out on Aug 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18 of 2023 using Chilescope Telescope #1 system.

Thus, total of 12h of combined LRGBHOS integral with Chilescope Telescope #1 system.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson https://www.hansonastronomy.com

Enjoy, Mark and Alex

[1] http://galaxymap.org/cat/view/rcw/71

[2] https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0412602

[3] https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0412602.pdf

[4] https://arxiv.org/abs/1107.2298

[5] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1107.2298.pdf

[6] https://www.astrobin.com/q16jx0/

[7] https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/applications/MSX/MSX/imageDescriptions.htm

[8] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/0067-0049/225/1/1

[9] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/0067-0049/225/1/1/pdf

[10] https://archives.esac.esa.int/hsa/aio/jsp/product.jsp?RETRIEVAL_TYPE=POSTCARD&PROTOCOL=HTTP&OBSERVATION.OBSERVATION_OID=8477811

[11] https://archives.esac.esa.int/hsa/aio/jsp/product.jsp?RETRIEVAL_TYPE=POSTCARD&PROTOCOL=HTTP&OBSERVATION.OBSERVATION_OID=8487017

Messier 78 Reflection nebula in Orion
Messier 78 is a spectacular blue reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It is the brightest diffuse reflection nebula in a group of nebulae that includes NGC 2064, NGC 2067, and NGC 2071. It lies at an approximate distance of 1,600 light years from Earth. It has the designation NGC 2068 in the New General Catalogue.
What is supersizing is how many other interesting objects are in this nebula. This patch of sky is absolutely gorgeous.
It houses many Herbig-Haro (HH) objects are luminous regions surrounding newborn stars, formed when stellar winds or jets of gas spewing from these newborn stars form shock waves colliding with nearby gas and dust at high speeds.
See the face hiding in the center of NGC 2068 (M78)
McNeil’s Nebula is also in this frame, while it’s not impressive in this image. I was imaging this object in 2003 and noticed it when I heard of the discovery. Too bad I didn’t examine the images very well back then.
Image Processing and Calibration: Mark Hanson
24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
Data Collection: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman 2021
Enjoy, Mark

Core of the Small Magellanic Cloud
This is the largest mosaic I have ever tried to construct. It consists of 16 panels with over 1600 frames, 93 hours of exposure. The core of (SMC) using a 24” telescope.
All its gaseous colors and structures: twisting, looping, bubbling, and exploding onto the screen. Nemours globular clusters and millions of stars are also visible. What a beautiful site it is.
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way. Classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy, SMC contains several hundred million stars. It has a total mass of approximately 7 billion solar masses. At about 200,000 light-years away from us, the SMC is among the nearest intergalactic neighbors of the Milky Way and is one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye.
The SMC is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere but can be fully glimpsed low above the southern horizon from latitudes south of about 15° north. The galaxy is located across both the constellations of Tucana and part of Hydrus, appearing as a faint hazy patch resembling a detached piece of the Milky Way. The SMC has an average apparent diameter of about 4.2° (8 times the Moon's) and thus covers an area of about 14 square degrees (70 times the Moon's). Since its surface brightness is very low, this deep-sky object is best seen on clear moonless nights and away from city lights. The SMC forms a pair with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which lies 20° to the east, and like the LMC, it is a member of the Local Group. It is currently a satellite of the Milky Way but is likely a former satellite of the LMC.
Image Processing and Calibration: Mark Hanson
Data Collection: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman 2023
Telescope1: 24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
16 panel mosaic in Ha,O3,S2,R,G,B Bin 2x2
RGB 600 total frames-1 min exp-10 hours total.
Ha,O3,S2 1000 total frames-5min exp-83 hours total. 93 hours total exposure.
Enjoy,

Mark Hanson and the SWOS Group

“Shock front cascade” in the middle of the SMC in HOS colors by Zaytsev and Hanson

The supernova remnant SNR B0050−72.8 [1] located in the middle of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) next to a structure sometimes called "Grand Hexagon of the SMC" [2, 3]. The bubble associated with this SNR is estimated to be only 2.4 arc.min in diameter (140 ly linear size given the distance to the SMC), but it is also superimposed by the 5 arc.min in size (290 ly linear size) elongated shell (possibly a side of a larger bubble) [4, 5] thus forming a complex cascade of loops with a rather fine structure. This object was a target of several recent studies including [6] using the observations performed with XMM-Newton and Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). The alternative explanation of this “cascade” structure suggested by [4, 5] is as a single large SNR bubble of which the spot identified as SNR B0050−72.8 is just a most active region in X-ray and radio-continuum parts of the spectrum. There are many fainter diffuse structures visible in the FOV some of which may comprise the walls of that hypothetical larger SNR bubble as well as more compact nebular and HII regions.

ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8 on alt-azimuthal direct drive fork mount, FLI ProLine 16803 with secondary mirror based motorized focusing and automatic de-rotation (Telescope #1 system of ChileScope observatory, Río Hurtado Valley, Chile).

Data and initial calibration/integration: Alexandr Zaytsev https://www.astrobin.com/users/m57ring/ 11x Ha + 10x OIII + 9x SII guided 1200 sec exposures (10h of combined integral) collected over 7 imaging sessions carried out on Aug 24, 26, 27 of 2023 and Sep 12, 13, 14, 25 of 2023 using Chilescope Telescope #1 system.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson https://www.hansonastronomy.com

Enjoy, Mark and Alex

A "little spindle" nebula complex in the SMC in HOS colors by Zaytsev and Hanson

This peculiarly shaped nebular complex surrounded by multiple HII regions including NGC 261 and NGC 267 is located in the Western side of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). While its angular diameter is of about 8 arc.min, since it is physically bound to the SMC the linear size of the region is of about 465 ly while the side of the image is of linear size of about 1 kly at that distance. Due to its apparently twisted shape we call it a “little spindle” here despite its impressive linear size. The nebula is comprised of at least 5 overlapping bubbles associated with supernova remnants [1-5] with one more supernova remnant candidate [6] also identified by the Simbad Database for which the bubble either already dissipated or obscured by the rest of the structures . The “roof” of the nebula complex located at the top of the “spindle” is composed of an elaborate collection of shock fronts for which the origin is not so easily traced. The image shows the unprecedented level of detail on this target,making that collection of the shock fronts an attractive target for imaging with large aperture instruments.

ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8 on alt-azimuthal direct drive fork mount, FLI ProLine 16803 with secondary mirror based motorized focusing and automatic de-rotation (Telescope #1 system of ChileScope observatory, Río Hurtado Valley, Chile).

Data and initial calibration/integration: Alexandr Zaytsev https://www.astrobin.com/users/m57ring/ 12x Ha + 8x OIII + 8x SII guided 600 sec exposures (4h 40min of combined integral) collected over 7 imaging sessions carried out on Dec 20, 21, 23 of 2022 (Ha and OIII) and Jul 22, 23, 27, 28 of 2023 (SII only) using Chilescope Telescope #1 system. Due to a significant time gap between acquiring Ha and OIII data and acquiring SII data each set of exposures was calibrated with calibration data from its respective time period.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson https://www.hansonastronomy.com


Enjoy, Mark and Alex

IC 4706-4707 the “Brain Stem Nebula”
Very rarely imaged in this detail, it most of the time gets passed up for the wonderful Messier 17, but this has some very interesting structure. I haven’t found a lot about this part of the Omega Nebula. It looks like a nebula with a brain stem.
It really pops in narrowband with tons of structure, you can also see it here in RGBHa .
Image Processing and Calibration: Mark Hanson
Data Collection: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman 2021
Telescope1: 24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
Enjoy, Mark

IC 446 - The Coyote Cloud
This seldom imaged colorful field of our galaxy very close to the Cone and Rosette Nebulas, so it often gets overlooked. Displayed here are examples of red emission nebula, blue reflection nebula and dark nebula.
IC 446 is was also named IC 2167 and thought to be 2 different objects discovered by Edward Bernard but eventually were proved to be the same object. This also happened to IC 447-IC 2169 which I the blue reflection nebula in the upper right corner of this image.
The curved dark nebula seen here are LDN 1607 and LBN 898. While working on this image I noticed it looked like a coyote cuddling the colorful nebula IC 446. Since it has so many names what’s another! The Coyote Cloud.
Image Processing and Calibration: Mark Hanson
Data Collection: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman 2021
Telescope1: 24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
Enjoy, Mark
www.hansonastronomy.com

RCW 104 is an oval shaped emission nebula close to the plane of our Milky Way in the southern constellation of Norma. It is part of 180 objects of the RCW catalogue that was published in 1960 by Alex Rodgers, Colin Campbell, and John Whiteoak under the direction of Bart Bok.

N44 is a complex nebula filled with glowing hydrogen gas, dark lanes of dust, massive stars, and many populations of stars of different ages. One of its most distinctive features, however, is the dark, starry gap called a “superbubble,” visible in this Hubble Space Telescope image in the upper central region.
The hole is about 250 light-years wide and its presence is still something of a mystery. Stellar winds expelled by massive stars in the bubble's interior may have driven away the gas, but this is inconsistent with measured wind velocities in the bubble. Another possibility, since the nebula is filled with massive stars that would expire in titanic explosions, is that the expanding shells of old supernovae sculpted the cosmic cavern.
Astronomers have found one supernova remnant in the vicinity of the superbubble and identified an approximately 5 million year difference in age between stars within and at the rim of the superbubble, indicating multiple, chain-reaction star-forming events. The deep blue area at about 5 o’clock around the superbubble is one of the hottest regions of the nebula and the area of the most intense star formation.
N44 is an emission nebula, which means its gas has been energized, or ionized, by the radiation of nearby stars. As the ionized gas begins to cool from its higher-energy state to a lower-energy state, it emits energy in the form of light, causing the nebula to glow. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, N44 spans about 1,000 light-years and is about 170,000 light-years away from Earth.

NGC 225 is an open cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. One of it's stars, the variable star V594 Cas, illuminates the blue reflection nebula van den Bergh (vdB) 4, which also cataloged as LBN 604. It seems, that vdB 4 is a remnant from the cloud that formed the cluster.

The name Sail Boat Cluster (NGC 225) was given to the open cluster located in the constellation of Cassiopeia by Rod Pommier, referring to the visual appearance of the object. There are a lot of gas and dust clouds around the cluster, part of which is being lit by the nearby cluster members, making it shine in blue.

The cluster was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783, who entered the object as #11 on her private list of deep-sky objects. A few months later, in 1784, as a mistake, she discovered it again, and listed it again as object #15 on her list. The cluster visible in the constellation of Cassiopeia is a bit more than 2000 light-years away from us, by that distance the cluster is considered one of the nearby clusters to us.

inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of stars. Cataloged as IC 5146, the beautiful nebula is nearly 15 light-years wide, located some 4,000 light years away toward the northern constellation Cygnus. Like other star forming regions, it stands out in red, glowing, hydrogen gas excited by young, hot stars and blue, dust-reflected starlight at the edge of an otherwise invisible molecular cloud. In fact, the bright star near the center of this nebula is likely only a few hundred thousand years old, powering the nebular glow as it clears out a cavity in the molecular cloud's star forming dust and gas. This exceptionally deep color view of the Cocoon Nebula traces tantalizing features within and surrounding the dusty stellar nursery.

RCW 103 Supernova Remnant
The RCW catalogue was prepared by Alex Rodgers, Colin Campbell, and John Whiteoak, working at Mount Stromlo observatory under the direction of Dutch-American astronomer Bart Bok. The RCW catalog is largely an expansion of Colin Gum's 1955 catalog.
RCW 103 is a 2000-year-old supernova remnant, pictured here using narrowband filters with its beautiful wispy tangled web of emissions.
The star that caused this explosion was a star 8-10 times the size of our own sun and is now a neutron star not visible in visible wavelengths in this image.
Recent Chandra X-Ray Observatory observations show a blue dot at the center which is interpreted as the neutron star formed in the explosion. This neutron star is quite special as it spins quite slow in caparison to most.
Here is a nice short description form Chandra:
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/rcw103/
SWOS: Mark Hanson, Steve Mazlan, Rex Parker, Stuart Forman
Telescope1: 24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
Enjoy,
Mark Hanson
www.hansonastronomy.com

RCW 75 (Gum 48a) HII region in Centaurus in HOS colors by Zaytsev and Hanson

Central part of RCW 75 (also known as Gum 48a) HII region [1, 2] featuring HD 115669 star, elephant trunk nebula, and a “very young" (4-6 Myr of age) Stock 16 open cluster [3-5] (part of Cen OB1 star association) located at the distance of 1.64 kpc [6, 7] and serving as primary ionization source for this region. The area also contains reflection nebulae VdBH 60a placed at an estimated distance of 1.9 kpc [8] and VdBH 60b both located at the “tip” of the elephant trunk nebula, as well as VdBH 60d and VdBH 60c reflection nebulae in the upper left corner.The angular size of the FOV in this image is 18’17” (side of the square) which for the distance of 1.9 kpc corresponds to the linear size of about 33 ly.

Both earlier [3] and later [4, 5] studies conclude that the Stock 16 cluster has formed on the outer edge of the elephant trunk nebula which used to be larger prior to formation of the cluster. It is further derived [3] that that original (larger) elephant trunk nebula suffered an implosion triggered by the intense radiation from preceding generation of the OB stars from a cluster that is now dispersed over the larger area of the HII region, thus resulting in creation of the currently observable scene. It is also concluded that RCW 75 remains an active star formation region and that the site of next generation of stars “should lie in the dense dust clouds located along the ionization-bound edge of the complex” [3] pointing to the central stars of the four VdBH 60a-d reflection nebulae as possible newly formed objects.

The image shows the unprecedented level of details in both dark nebulae in the middle and also in the “veil” preceding the ionization-bound edge of RCW 75 complex on the right of the trunk nebula, revealing many ghostly features there. A considerable amount of details is revealed in the part of the nebula complex on the left of the trunk nebula as well.


ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8 on alt-azimuthal direct drive fork mount, FLI ProLine 16803 with secondary mirror based motorized focusing and automatic de-rotation (Telescope #1 system of ChileScope observatory, Río Hurtado Valley, Chile).

Data and initial calibration/integration: Alexandr Zaytsev https://www.astrobin.com/users/m57ring/ 9x Ha + 9x OIII + 9x SII guided 1200 sec exposures (9h of combined integral) collected over 6 imaging sessions carried out on Jul 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, 22 of 2023 using Chilescope Telescope #1 system.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson www.hansonastronomy.com

Enjoy, Mark and Alex

[1] http://galaxymap.org/cat/view/rcw/75

[2] https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.01474

[3] https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1985ApJ...292..148T

[4] https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2005/05/aa1089/aa1089.html

[5] https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2005/21/aa1089-04e/aa1089-04e.html

[6] https://arxiv.org/abs/1102.2503

[7] https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004AN....325..740K/abstract

[8] https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0301221

“Surfing the swan’s inner beauty.”
Messier 17 – or as it’s more famously known, the Omega Nebula (or Swan Nebula, Checkmark Nebula, Horseshoe Nebula, and NGC 6618 ). This beautiful nebula is considered one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions in our galaxy. Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, this fantastic colorful portrait of undulating shapes lies within this stellar nursery 5,500 light-years away in the Sagittarius constellation.
What you see is the hot hydrogen gas that is illuminated when its particles are excited by the hottest of the stars that have just formed within the nebula. Also, some of the light is being reflected by the nebula’s own dust. These remain hidden by dark obscuring material, and we know their presence only through the detection of their infrared radiation.
This image was taken from 2 different telescopes back in 2015 and in 2021. Over 75 Hours of exposure between them.
Image Processing and Calibration: Mark Hanson
Data Collection: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman 2021
Telescope1: 24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
Data Collection: Data: M. Hanson, S. Mazlin, W. Keller, R. Parker 2015
Telescope2: 16" RCOS f11.2 Planewave HD Mount, Camera: FLI 16803, Location: SSRO, Cito Chile
Enjoy, Mark

Sharpless 132, LBN 473
Sharpless 132 is a very faint emission nebula often overlooked by astrophotographers. It's on the border of the constellations of Cepheus and Lacerta. It's estimated to be about 10,000 light years away. The star field is very rich, so the nebula is almost lost amidst all the stars.
It’s home to Wolf-Rayet star WR153ab. These massive stars are nearing their transition to supernova or black hole. In the OIII wavelength there appears to be a river of blue gasses running up through the nebula. However, this river is actually part of a ring nebula being pushed by the WR star.www.hansonastronomy.com

Taken from DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico in 2012
14.5" RCOS F8, Apogee U16M High Cooling HA 450, O3 480, S2 405min, Red 90, Green 90min ,Blue 90min, Calibrated,combined in PI and PS quite a difference from the old version done over 10 years ago.

NGC 1914 ("Labyrinth") nebula in HOS colors

Description:

A rarely looked upon compact (3’ in diameter) NGC 1914 nebula with embedded star association located near the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with an elaborate and complex internal structure. The nebula appears to have two dim diffuse arms extending asymmetrically up to 10’ from the center. The “Labyrinth” name is proposed due to the seahorse shape dark nebula structure revealed on the inside. Only the brightest core feature (which is about 1.5’ across) is identified in DSS2 and other surveys, missing the details on the periphery. The way how this object may be connected with other diffuse objects found nearby [4] is to be studied further.

[1] https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=NGC%201914

[2] https://theskylive.com/sky/deepsky/ngc1914-object

[3] https://aladin.cds.unistra.fr/AladinLite/?-c=16+41+20.4149-48+45+46.644&ident=CCDM+J16413-4846AB&submit=Aladin+previewer

[4] https://www.astrobin.com/b6zxbk/



Data source, calibration and processing:

ASA Ritchey-Chretien RC-1000: D=1m, f/6.8 on alt-azimuthal direct drive fork mount, FLI ProLine 16803 with secondary mirror based motorized focusing and automatic de-rotation (Telescope #1 system of ChileScope observatory, Río Hurtado Valley, Chile).

Image Processing: Mark Hanson

Source data and initial calibration/integration:
Alexandr Zaytsev ( https://www.astrobin.com/users/m57ring/ ): 13x Ha + 13x OIII + 13x SII guided 1200 sec exposures (13h of combined integral) collected over 9 imaging sessions carried out on Oct 2, 3 of 2022, Nov 16, 2022, and Feb 12 ,13, 14, 16, 17, 19 of 2023 using Chilescope Telescope #1 system.

NGC 4601- Reflection Nebula in Scorpius
IC 4601 is a reflection nebula which is located about 420 light-years away in Scorpius.
The bluish reflection nebula with the two embedded double stars is IC 4601 (vdB 102,vdB 103), the yellowish reflection nebula is vdB 101. The two reflection nebulae appear so different due to the temperature differences of the illuminating stars.
These types of nebulae are called “reflection,” because they reflect the light of nearby stars.
IC 4601 is illuminated by the intense radiation of the stars present in its vicinity, among which the most brilliant star HD 147010, and the two stars of a binary system known as HD 147013, which are all blue giants.
The dust of IC 4601 contains the heavy elements that planets are made of and plays a major role in the creation of new stars. There probably are baby stars wrapped in these blankets of dust.
Taken with CDK 24 from El Sauce Chile
Data: SWOS group Mazlin,Parker,Forman,Hanson
Image Processing: Mark Hanson

IC 405 The Flaming Star Nebula

AE Aurigae is called the flaming star. The surrounding nebula IC 405 is named the Flaming Star Nebula and the region seems to harbor smoke, but there is no fire. Fire, typically defined as the rapid molecular acquisition of oxygen, happens only when sufficient oxygen is present and is not important in such high-energy, low-oxygen environments. The material that appears as smoke is mostly interstellar hydrogen but does contain smoke-like dark filaments of carbon-rich dust grains. The bright star AE Aurigae, visible near the nebula center, is so hot it is blue, emitting light so energetic it knocks electrons away from atoms in the surrounding gas. When an atom recaptures an electron, light is emitted creating the surrounding emission nebula. In this cosmic portrait, the Flaming Star nebula lies about 1,500 light years distant, spans about 5 light years, and is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga).
Taken from DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico
14.5" RCOS F8, Apogee U16M High Cooling
HA 630 min, Luminance 300, Red 260min, Green 220min ,Blue 280min
Calibrated,combined in CCD Stack all other processing done using PS5.
Enjoy,
Mark Hanson

“At the Running Chicken’s Core”
Description:
At the core of IC 2948 the “Running Chicken Nebula” are large clouds of gas and dust as this region produces newborn stars in what we call a “ Star Factory.” In the upper left corner are a series of Boc globules that remind us of many solar systems like our own, floating in interstellar space.
This amateur close-up image is quite astonishing with detail we have not seen before from any amateur images.
It lies around 6,500 light-years away from us in the constellation of Centaurus.

Explanation: Beautiful emission nebula NGC 6164 was created by a rare, hot, luminous O-type star, some 40 times as massive as the Sun. Seen at the center of the cosmic cloud, the star is a mere 3 to 4 million years old. In another three to four million years the massive star will end its life in a supernova explosion. Spanning around 4 light-years, the nebula itself has a bipolar symmetry. That makes it similar in appearance to more common and familiar planetary nebulae - the gaseous shrouds surrounding dying sun-like stars. Also like many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164 has been found to have an extensive, faint halo, revealed in this deep telescopic image of the region. Expanding into the surrounding interstellar medium, the material in the halo is likely from an earlier active phase of the O star. The gorgeous skyscape is a composite of extensive narrow-band image data, highlighting glowing atomic hydrogen gas in red and oxygen in blue hues, with broad-band data for the surrounding starfield. NGC 6164 is 4,200 light-years away in the right-angled southern constellation of Norma.

Telescope:16" RCOS f11.2 Planewave HD Mount

Camera: FLI 16803

Location: SSRO, Cito Chile

Henize 70 in LMC

Massive stars profoundly affect their galactic environments. Churning and mixing interstellar clouds of gas and dust, stars -- most notably those upwards of tens of times the mass of our Sun -- leave their mark on the compositions and locations of future generations of stars. Dramatic evidence of this is illustrated in our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), by the featured nebula, Henize 70 (also known as N70 and DEM301). Henize 70 is actually a luminous superbubble of interstellar gas about 300 light-years in diameter, blown by winds from hot, massive stars and supernova explosions, with its interior filled with tenuous hot and expanding gas. Because superbubbles can expand through an entire galaxy, they offer humanity a chance to explore the connection between the lifecycles of stars and the evolution of galaxies.

An Amazing Explorer’s Legacy – the Henize Objects. In a recent project my astrophotography group, using a 24” Planewave telescope high in the Andes in Chile, targeted the object known as Henize 70. The image below is the result of this effort. From this I became curious about the history of the Henize objects. The astronomer Karl Henize spent years studying the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the dwarf galaxy nearest us visible only from the southern hemisphere. He created a catalog of interesting objects in it during his career as Professor of Astronomy at Northwestern University. In 1967 he gave up his full professorship to became an Apollo astronaut and was actually slated to fly on Apollo 20 or 21 had the NASA project not been discontinued. In 1985 he finally did go into space on the Space Shuttle Challenger with the SpaceLab2 experiment. Henize had a lifelong interest in the LMC and created the catalog of interesting objects now bearing his name. Exploration was his game, and ultimately how he went out – at age 70 in 1994 he died climbing Mount Everest, where his body was buried at 22,000 ft.

Recent Image:
Imaged in HOO RGB on our Planewave CDK 700 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson.

Older Image

Taken from SWOS in El Sauce, Chile 24” PlaneWave CDK (LRGBHA) Image Processing Mark Hanson

NGC 3324 is often called the Gabriela Mistral Nebula due to the resemblance to the silhouette of the Chilean poet.
It is an emission nebula located 7200 light years away in Carina.
The nebula hosts several massive hot stars which are slowly eroding the gas cloud with their radiation.
Imaged in SHO narrowband with RGB stars on our Planewave CDK 700 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

SH2 284 is a giant HII region (emission nebula) in Monoceros. There is some resemblance to NGC 2237 the Rosette Nebula which is a very popular target in Astrophotography.Imaged in SHO narrowband on our Planewave DR 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson.

NGC 5367

NGC 5367 is a reflection nebula around 2500 light years away in Centaurus.

It is embedded in the Cometary Globule CG 12 and lit by a double star H4636 which are type B4 and B7 stars.

Cometary globules are interstellar clouds with comet-like morphology, consisting of compact, dusty, and opaque heads and long, faintly luminous tails.

Reflection nebulae are clouds of gas and dust that reflect the light from nearby stars. The starlight scatters through the gas and dust like a flashlight beam shining on mist in the dark and illuminates it.

Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave CDK 700 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier's famous 18th century list of things which are not comets.

In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, debris from the death explosion of a massive star, witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054.

These sharp, ground-based telescopic views, combines broadband color data with narrowband data that tracks emission from ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms to explore the tangled filaments within the still expanding cloud.

One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star spinning 30 times a second, is visible as a bright spot near the nebula's center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is a mere 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.

Imaged in RGB with H alpha and Oxygen III, SII, OTA CDK 24 at Dark Sky New Mexico and 17” CDK from Texas.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson Data: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

NGC 3603

Not many images of this at this nebula complex at this scale, as it’s in the shadow of the very popular “Statue of Liberty Nebula”.

Thousands of sparkling young stars nestled within the giant nebula NGC 3603. This stellar "jewel box" is one of the most massive young star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. NGC 3603 is a prominent star-forming region in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way, about 20,000 light-years away.

This image shows a young star cluster surrounded by a vast region of dust and gas. The image reveals stages in the life cycle of stars. The nebula was first discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1834.


Imaged in SHORGB, OTA CDK 24 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

Enjoy,

Mike & Mark
http://hansonastronomy.com
http://throughlightandtime.com

Centered in this colorful cosmic canvas, NGC 2626 is a beautiful, bright, blue reflection nebula in the southern Milky Way. Next to an obscuring dust cloud and surrounded by reddish hydrogen emission from large H II region RCW 27 it lies within a complex of dusty molecular clouds known as the Vela Molecular Ridge. NGC 2626 is itself a cloud of interstellar dust reflecting blue light from the young hot embedded star visible within the nebula. But astronomical explorations reveal many other young stars and associated nebulae in the star-forming region. NGC 2626 is about 3,200 light-years away. At that distance this telescopic field of view would span about 30 light-years along the Vela Molecular Ridge.

NGC 1788
Highlighted in rather bold color, NGC 1788 is often overlooked due to the more famous features of the Orion Nebula. Although this ghostly cloud is rather isolated from Orion’s bright stars, their powerful winds and light have a strong impact on the nebula, forging its shape and making it a home to a multitude of infant suns.

Imaged in LRGB and H alpha on the RiDK 400 at El Sauce, Obstech, Chile
Integration Time: 30 hours
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

Welcome to the home of the Boogeyman (nebula). This two panel mosaic covers the region of LDN 1622 and LDN 1617 a spectacular dark nebula complex in Orion set against a background of faint Hydrogen alpha gas.Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave DR 350 at Observatorio El Sauce Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

IC 447 is a large reflection nebula in Monoceros set within a complex of smaller reflection and dark nebulae.
The Nebula is often referred to as Dreyer’s Nebula after John Dreyer who compiled the NGC and IC catalogs, but it was actually discovered by Barnard. The confusion is probably due to Barnard often referencing objects as Dreyer with the catalog number.
Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave Delta Rho 350 at Observatorio El Sauce Chile
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

RCW 58-Wolf Rayet Bubble

Description:

Imagine traveling to a star about 100 times as massive as our Sun, a million times more luminous, and with 30 times the surface temperature. Such stars exist, and some are known as Wolf Rayet (WR) stars, named after French astronomers Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet. The central star in this image is WR 40 which is located toward the constellation of Carina. Stars like WR 40 live fast and die young in comparison with the Sun. They quickly exhaust their core hydrogen supply, move on to fusing heavier core elements, and expand while ejecting their outer layers via high stellar winds. In this case, the central star WR 40 ejects the atmosphere at a speed of nearly 100 kilometers per second, and these outer layers have become the expanding oval-shaped nebula RCW 58.

This just looks like you can hear it sizzling! RCW58, an E type nebula, is a Wolf Rayet Bubble formed by the ejecta from WR 40, the central star in the image. These three-dimensional bubbles appear as a ring in two dimensions, as seen in this image and represent the stellar ejecta contained in a windblown bubble. The are several similar WR ring nebulae are known including: MI-67, RCW104, RCW78, NGC3199, NGC6888.

H alpha and OIII emissions from eight of the most well defined Wolf Rayet ring nebulae in the Galaxy reveal that in many cases the outermost edge of the OIII emission leads the H alpha emission. This suggests that these offsets, when present, are due to the shock from the Wolf Rayet bubble expanding into the circumstellar envelope.

Imaged in LRGB on our PlaneWave CDK 1000 and CDK 700 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile. Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

Taken and processed by:
Mark Hanson (American) & Mike Selby (Thai)

Processing:
All data was calibrated, aligned, combined in CCD stack Or PixInsight. All other processing done using CC Photoshop, Maxim and PixInsight. Mike and I have been employing several new processing techniques and have been very pleased with the results. One of which is working together and moving the image between us until we’re happy with the result.


Location:
Taken El Sauce, Chile

Exposure times:
CDK 1000 Ha 19 hours 40 minutes, filter Chroma
CDK 700 OIII 13 hours filter Chroma, RGB 30 minutes per channel
Exposure lengths Ha 600s, OIII 900s, RGB 60s

Equipment used:
Telescope/Camera: Planewave CDK-1000 / QHY 461
Telescope/Camera: Planewave CDK-700 / PL 16803

Thorny Blue Rose – In LMC

Discovered by William Herschel in 1835, NGC 1965 -66 is one of the many objects we can image within the Large Magellanic Cloud. The bright emission nebula and embedded star cluster present a thorny blue rose shaped image formed by massive amounts of gas and dust.

An imager in the southern hemisphere can spend the whole season imaging fantastic objects from our outstanding neighbour galaxy. This is one of the highest resolution images of this object to date. Also, visible open clusters, globular clusters, dust clouds and proximate emission nebulae. Many are still un-catalogued.

Imaged in SHORGB on our Planewave CDK 24 (SHO) and RiDK 500 RGB color at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile

Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

www.hansonastronomy.com
www.throughlightandtime.com

Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

IC 2631

Definitely a thumb stopper, IC 2631 is the brightest reflection nebula in the Chamaeleon complex. A bright blue reflection nebula set against a dramatic back drop of cosmic dust, IC 2631 is lit by the massive young bright star HD 97300. IC 2631 is effectively an incubator for several very young protostars. Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile. Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson.

Enjoy, Mark and Mike

Seasons Greetings from the Cosmos.
The Orion Nebula is one of the best known objects in the night sky and one of the first objects that people tend to image. The region around the Orion Nebula is truly an amazing sight with so many spectacular objects that it is really impossible to get bored despite having seen it so many times.
This image is a six panel mosaic covering a modestly large area of the region. The full resolution image file is 400 mb in size.
Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave Delta Rho 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

IC 2118 often termed the Witch Head Nebula is a large (3x1 degree field of view) faint reflection nebula in 900 light years away in Orion. It is thought to be an ancient supernova remnant.

This image was produced from a three panel mosaic.

Imaged in RGB on our Planewave Delta Rho 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

Enjoy, Mike and Mark

M45 The Pleiades Cluster

Is an asterism and open star cluster 445 light years away in Taurus.

It is visible by eye in many areas and has been a subject of legend and mythology in many cultures. In astrophotography it is an extremely popular subject presenting a spectacular mix of bright blue stars lighting the gas and dust within the region.

M45 is rather challenging to image from Chile as it never goes above 35 degrees in altitude.

Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave Delta Rho 350 from Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

Enjoy, Mike and Mark

CG4 is a Cometary Globule in a state of rupture. It is often called God’s Hand although it more resembles a tube worm. It is located in the constellation of Puppis, about 1,300 light-years away. Its head is some 1.5 light-years in diameter, and its tail is about 8 light-years long. The dusty cloud contains enough material to make several medium sized stars.

Imaged in LRGB and H Alpha on our RiDK 400 at El Sauce, Obstech, Chile
Integration time: 37 hours

Imaged Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

NGC 2077

is a Nebula in the Dorado constellation. NGC 2077 is situated south of the celestial equator and, as such, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere.

Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

 Enjoy,

 Mike & Mark

NGC 1760

The region around NGC 1760 is a star forming area with multiple colorful emission nebulae. It is located around 160,000 light years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud. NGC 1760 is the brightest emission nebula in the LMC.

Imaged in SHO narrowband with RGB stars on our Planewave DR 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

https://www.hansonastronomy.com/vdb-4
www.throughlightandtime.com

Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

Inside the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Centered on NGC 249 an emission nebula within a large ionized HII region, the Small Magellanic Cloud a dwarf galaxy which is a satellite of the Milky Way hosts numerous nebulae and star clusters that are visible to astrophotographers.
Imaged in RGB and SHO on our Planewave DR 350 at Observatorio, El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

NGC 6559 Collage of Gases
NGC 6559 is a blue reflection nebula surrounded by dust and Hydrogen alpha emissions. The nebula is located 5000 light years away in Sagittarius and in terms of sky position is not far from the Lagoon Nebula. The area is a star forming region and this close-up view shows many fascinating features.
Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile

Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

LDN 43 “The Cosmic Bat”
Situated in Ophiuchus, rarely imaged LDN 43 is a dark nebula consisting of very dense material which blocks light from background stars. It frames LBN 7 a bright reflection nebula. Inside the dark nebula area are two cometary nebulae GN 16.31.3 and GN 16.31.7) It certainly Looks like a flying bat.

Imaged in LRGB on our RiDK 500 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile

Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

www.hansonastronomy.com
www.throughlightandtime.com

Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

Rho Ophiuchi
This six panel mosaic shows a portion of one of the most stunning areas in the night sky.
The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is home to a grouping of interstellar clouds with a vast range of nebulae. Colorful reflection nebulae interspersed with dark nebulae make for a truly breathtaking sight.

Imaged in LRGB on our RH 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile

Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

VDB 123-99
VDB 123 is a reflection nebula in Serpens embedded in the Serpens Dark Cloud. It is illuminated by HD 170634 a magnitude 9.75 blue star. Standing out in contrast to VDB 123 is a bright region of orange nebulosity, the Serpens reflection nebula.

Imaged in LRGB on our PlaneWave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

www.hansonastronomy.com
www.throughlightandtime.com


Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

IC 1274
IC 1274 is a luminous nebula contained within the Lands 227 molecular cloud in Sagittarius.
There is a cavity like structure likely due to the star HD 166033. A number of early type stars have formed and are ionizing and dispersing molecular gas.

Imaged in LRGB on our PlaneWave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

Enjoy,

Mike & Mark

Eta Carina “The Lost Relics”
Eta Carina is one of the best known and most prominent nebulae in the Southern Sky. There are many fine images of the nebula generally centered in the area around the keyhole. We thought it would be fun to do a close-up of a different section, so here is a dive into lesser-Known parts.
In what’s called the south pillars (of Carina) the most notable from Hubble space telescope image is HH666 it takes up most of the right side of the image and is quite faint and seemingly shadowed from the foreground gasses. The rest of these pillars have no names that I can find, and there are a lot of them.
See if you can find them. The Seahorse Pillar, The Cat-a-pillar, Knifes Edge Pillar, Twin Peaks Pillars, The Tiny Pillar, The Beehive Pillar, Twin Pillars, Shady Mountain Pillars

Imaged in SHO RGB on our PlaneWave CDK 700 at Observatorio, El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

The Chamaeleon complex is a large star forming region (SFR) that includes the Chamaeleon I, Chamaeleon II, and Chamaeleon III dark clouds. It occupies nearly all of the constellation of Chamaeleon and overlaps into Apus, Musca, Carina and Octans.
Chamaeleon 1 is one of the nearest active star formation regions and is around 700 light years away.
Chamaeleon 2 contains over 40 X-ray sources while Chamaeleon 3 appears to have no star formation taking place.
Within the image on the left is the reflection nebula IC 2631 and in the center is Cederblad 111.
Imaged in LRGB on an RH 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile
Integration Time: 24 hours
Image Processing: Mark Hanson

SH2-308
Situated 5200 light years from Earth in Canis Major, SH 308 the Dolphin Nebula glows blue from its predominant OIII content.
This view is presented in Wide Field in HOO Narrowband from our RH 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Obstech, Chile.
Enjoy,
Mark

In the heart of Orion


A close up view of the core of M42 area and trapezium of the Orion Nebula.

Imaged in LRGB on our CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile

Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

Enjoy,

Hanson & Selby

REMAINS OF THE DAY
Around 11,800 years ago a star exploded in Vela. It must have been quite an explosion and the light would have reached earth around 11,000 years ago.
The Vela Supernova Remnant spans the equivalent of 16 times the diameter of the Moon but is very faint and requires considerable exposure time on a suitable telescope to resolve it.
The Remnant consists of gas and dust. Much of the gas is hydrogen and Oxygen, some of which has formed filamentary structures. The gas and dust has continued to expand outwards creating what we see today.
It is thought that within the Vela Supernova Remnant there are the remains of an earlier supernova.
Imaged in Ha and OIII as a six panel Mosaic on our RH 350 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Integration Time: 87 hours
Image Acquisition: Mike Selby and Gowri Visweswaran
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson

Its not located in Asgard, and Chris Hemsworth didn’t wear this one in the movies but…
NGC 2359 is an iconic emission nebula in Canis. It is often referred to as Thor’s Helmet given the clouds shape with wing like appendages.

We think Thor would have liked it.

Imaged in HOO on our CDK 1000, RiDK 700 and RiDK 500 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Total Integration Time: 81 hours

Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

NGC 6559

When stars form, pandemonium reigns. A textbook case is the star forming region NGC 6559. Visible above are red glowing emission nebulas of hydrogen, blue reflection nebulas of dust, dark absorption nebulas of dust, and the stars that formed from them. The first massive stars formed from the dense gas will emit energetic light and winds that erode, fragment, and sculpt their birthplace. And then they explode. The resulting morass can be as beautiful as it is complex. After tens of millions of years, the dust boils away, the gas gets swept away, and all that is left is a naked open cluster of stars.

Taken from SWOS in El Sauce, Chile

24” PlaneWave CDK (LRGBHA)

Messier 17: Omega Nebula

Messier 17 (M17), also known as the Omega Nebula, is a famous star-forming nebula located in the southern constellation Sagittarius. The diffuse emission nebula lies near the constellation’s northern border with Scutum. Also known as the Swan Nebula, Lobster Nebula, Horseshoe Nebula and Checkmark Nebula, the Omega Nebula is one of the brightest star-forming nebulae of the Milky Way. Its designation in the New General Catalogue is NGC 6618. M17 is also one of the most massive H II regions of our galaxy.
Messier 17 is located in the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way, the next inward spiral arm to our own, and may be part of the same giant cloud complex as its close neighbor, Messier 16 (the Eagle Nebula), located in the constellation Serpens.

Taken from SWOS in El Sauce, Chile
24” PlaneWave CDK (LRGBHA)
Thank you,

Mark Hanson

Messier 22 or M22, also known as NGC 6656, is an elliptical globular cluster of stars in the constellation Sagittarius, near the Galactic bulge region. It is one of the brightest globulars visible in the night sky.

Taken with PlaneWave 24” CDK at SWOS in Chile.

The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, NGC 6523, Sharpless 25, RCW 146, and Gum 72) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region.

The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654[4] and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. Within the nebula is the open cluster NGC 6530.[5]
Lagoon Nebula in HaRGB

The Lagoon Nebula is estimated to be between 4,000-6,000 light-years away from the Earth. In the sky of Earth, it spans 90' by 40', which translates to an actual dimension of 110 by 50 light years. Like many nebulas, it appears pink in time-exposure color photos but is gray to the eye peering through binoculars or a telescope, human vision having poor color sensitivity at low light levels. The nebula contains a number of Bok globules (dark, collapsing clouds of protostellar material), the most prominent of which have been catalogued by E. E. Barnard as B88, B89 and B296. It also includes a funnel-like or tornado-like structure caused by a hot O-type star that emanates ultraviolet light, heating and ionizing gases on the surface of the nebula. The Lagoon Nebula also contains at its centre a structure known as the Hourglass Nebula (so named by John Herschel), which should not be confused with the better known Engraved Hourglass Nebula in the constellation of Musca. In 2006 the first four Herbig–Haro objects were detected within the Hourglass, also including HH 870. This provides the first direct evidence of active star formation by accretion within it.[2]

NGC 6357 War and Peace Nebula - Lobster Nebula

Taken from SWOS in El Sauce, Chile

24” PlaneWave CDK

Explanation from APOD: Why is the Lobster Nebula forming some of the most massive stars known? No one is yet sure. Cataloged as NGC 6357, the Lobster Nebula houses the open star cluster Pismis 24 near its center -- a home to unusually bright and massive stars. The overall blue glow near the inner star forming region results from the emission of ionized hydrogen gas. The surrounding nebula, featured here, holds a complex tapestry of gas, dark dust, stars still forming, and newly born stars. The intricate patterns are caused by complex interactions between interstellar winds, radiation pressures, magnetic fields, and gravity. NGC 6357 spans about 400 light years and lies about 8,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Scorpion.

Explanation via APOD: Nebulas are perhaps as famous for being identified with familiar shapes as perhaps cats are for getting into trouble. Still, no known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw Nebula visible in Scorpius. At 5,500 light years distant, Cat's Paw is an emission nebula with a red color that originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms. Alternatively known as the Bear Claw Nebula or NGC 6334, stars nearly ten times the mass of our Sun have been born there in only the past few million years.

Cosmic dust clouds sprawl across a rich field of stars in this sweeping telescopic vista near the northern boundary of Corona Australis, the Southern Crown. Less than 500 light-years away the dust clouds effectively block light from more distant background stars in the Milky Way. The entire frame spans about 2 degrees or over 15 light-years at the clouds' estimated distance. Near center is a group of lovely reflection nebulae cataloged as NGC 6726, 6727, 6729, and IC 4812. A characteristic blue color is produced as light from hot stars is reflected by the cosmic dust. The dust also obscures from view stars in the region still in the process of formation. Smaller yellowish nebula NGC 6729 surrounds young variable star R Coronae Australis. Below it are arcs and loops identified as Herbig Haro objects associated with energetic newborn stars. Magnificent globular star cluster NGC 6723 is at the right. Though NGC 6723 appears to be part of the group, its ancient stars actually lie nearly 30,000 light-years away, far beyond the young stars of the Corona Australis dust clouds.

Explanation: Strange shapes and textures can be found in neighborhood of the Cone Nebula. The unusual shapes originate from fine interstellar dust reacting in complex ways with the energetic light and hot gas being expelled by the young stars. The brightest star on the right of the above picture is S Mon, while the region just above it has been nicknamed the Fox Fur Nebula for its color and structure. The blue glow directly surrounding S Mon results from reflection, where neighboring dust reflects light from the bright star. The orange glow that encompasses the whole region results not only from dust reflection but also emission from hydrogen gas ionized by starlight. S Mon is part of a young open cluster of stars named NGC 2264, located about 2500 light years away toward the constellation of Monoceros. The origin of the mysterious geometric Cone Nebula, visible on the far left, remains a mystery.

NGC 3324- Gabriela Mistral Nebula

Description via APOD. Explanation: This bright cosmic cloud was sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from the hot young stars of open cluster NGC 3324. With dust clouds in silhouette against its glowing atomic gas, the pocket-shaped star-forming region actually spans about 35 light-years. It lies some 7,500 light-years away toward the nebula rich southern constellation Carina. A composite of narrowband image data, the telescopic view captures the characteristic emission from ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms mapped to red, green, and blue hues in the popular Hubble Palette. For some, the celestial landscape of bright ridges of emission bordered by cool, obscuring dust along the right side create a recognizable face in profile. The region's popular name is the Gabriela Mistral Nebula for the Nobel Prize winning Chilean poet.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

The Trifid Nebula (designated Messier 20 and NGC 6514) is a star-forming (H II) region of some 40 light-years across, located about 5,200 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer). It is estimated to be only 300,000 years old.

Stars, the Sun included, were born within clouds of dusty gas such as the Trifid Nebula. This young nebula contains enough material to make many thousands of suns. Within it a number of young hot stars have already formed.

The Trifid Nebula, meaning ‘divided into three lobes’, is an unusual combination of a red emission nebula with a young open star cluster near its center, surrounded by a blue reflection nebula which is particularly conspicuous to the northern end, and a dark absorption nebula (the apparent ‘gaps’ within the emission nebula that cause the trifid appearance; these are also designated Barnard 85).

The hydrogen molecules in the emission nebula at the Trifid’s core is heated by hundreds of brilliant young stars causing it to emit red light. The dense part of the nebula is a stellar nursery full of embryonic stars (NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope discovered 30 embryonic stars and 120 newborn stars, not seen in visible light images). The star cluster, known as C 1759-230, may well be the youngest star cluster in our Milky Way galaxy.

The blue color of the reflection nebula comes from cosmic dust grains which preferentially reflect the blue component of starlight as it scatters light from bright new stars that were formed nearby. The largest and hottest of these stars shines most brightly in the hot, blue portion of the visible spectrum.

In some parts of the nebula there are so many dust grains that they hide the glowing gas, producing the dark absorption lanes, which were created in the atmospheres of cool giant stars and in the debris from supernovae explosions. Within these dark lanes, the remains of previous star births and deaths continue to collapse under gravity’s unrelenting attraction. The rising density, pressure and temperature inside these dark blobs will eventually trigger the formation of new stars.

Close-up images show a finger-like stalk in the emission nebula that points from the head of a very dense cloud directly toward the star that powers the Trifid nebula, which is actually a triple system of extremely hot stars. This stalk is a prominent example of evaporating gaseous globules, or ‘EGGs’. The stalk has survived because its tip is a knot of gas that is dense enough to resist being eaten away by the powerful radiation from the star.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK and

DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico 14.5" RCOS

NGC 2736 (also known as the Pencil Nebula) is a small part of the Vela Supernova Remnant, located near the Vela Pulsar in the constellation Vela. The nebula's linear appearance triggered its popular name. It resides about 815 light-years (250 parsecs) away from the Solar System. It is thought to be formed from part of the shock wave of the larger Vela Supernova Remnant.

N44 is an emission nebula with superbubble structure located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way in the constellation Dorado.[3][4][5] Originally catalogued in Karl Henize's "Catalogue of H-alpha emission stars and nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds" of 1956, it is approximately 1,000 light-years wide and 160,000-170,000 light-years distant.[6][7][1] N44 has a smaller bubble structure inside known as N44F. The superbubble structure of N44 itself is shaped by the radiation pressure of a 40-star group located near its center; the stars are blue-white, very luminous, and incredibly powerful.[6][1] N44F has been shaped in a similar manner; it has a hot, massive central star with an unusually powerful stellar wind that moves at 7 million kilometers per hour. This is because it loses material at 100 million times the rate of the Sun, or approximately 1,000,000,000,000,000 tons per year. However, varying density in the N44 nebula has caused the formation of several dust pillars that may conceal star formation.[6] This variable density is likely caused by previous supernovae in the vicinity of N44; many of the stars that have shaped it will eventually also end as supernovae. The past effects of supernovae are also confirmed by the fact that N44 emits x-rays.[4][8]

N44 is classified as an emission nebula because it contains large regions of ionized hydrogen. However, the three strongest emission lines in the nebula are singly ionized oxygen atoms, which emit at an ultraviolet wavelength of 372.7 nm, doubly-ionized oxygen atoms, which emit at a blue-green wavelength of 500.7 nm, and neutral hydrogen atoms, which emit the hydrogen-alpha line at a red wavelength of 656.2 nm.[1][9]
References

IC 1284

IC 1284 (bottom left) and NGC 6590 (lower-mid right)

There is hardly any background sky in this very dusty part of the southern Milky Way. These beautiful objects can be found about halfway between the Trifid Nebula (M20) and the Swan or Omega Nebula (M17). Blueish reflection nebulae and brownish dark interstellar cloud appear to be superposed on the pink emission nebula.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

NGC 5367 and cometary globule CG12

NGC 5367 is a reflection nebula associated with the cometary globule CG12 in the Centaurus constellation. Discovered in 1976 on an ESO/SRC Sky Survey plate taken with the UK Schmidt telescope, CG12 is in contrast to the most other Cometary Globules, because it is far away from the galactic disk. The nebula NGC 5367 (also catalogued as IC 4347) reflects light from two bluish stars of the binary system h4636 (the stars are from spectral type B4 and B7).

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
LRGB 460,300,300,300
Planewave 17“ CDK

The Wild Duck Cluster (also known as Messier 11, or NGC 6705) is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Scutum (the Shield). It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1681. Charles Messier included it in his catalogue of diffuse objects in 1764. Its popular name derives from the brighter stars forming a triangle which could resemble a flying flock of ducks (or, from other angles, one swimming duck). The cluster is located just to the east of the Scutum Star Cloud midpoint.

The Wild Duck Cluster is one of the richest and most compact of the known open clusters. It is one of the most massive open clusters known, and it has been extensively studied. Its age has been estimated to about 316 million years.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

RCW58, an E type nebula, is a Wolf Rayert Bubble formed by the ejecta from WR 40, the central star in the image. These three dimensional bubbles appear as a ring in two dimensions, as seen in this image and represent the stellar ejecta contained in a wind blown bubble. The are several similar WR ring nebulae are known including: MI-67, RCW104, RCW78, NGC3199, NGC6888.


H alpha and OIII emissions from eight of the most well defined Wolf Rayet ring nebulae in the Galaxy reveal that in many cases the outermost edge of the OIII emission leads the H alpha emission. This suggests that these offsets, when present, are due to the shock from the Wolf Rayet bubble expanding into the circumstellar envelope.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

RCW 86-SN 185

SN 185 was a transient astronomical event observed in AD 185, likely a supernova. The transient occurred in the direction of Alpha Centauri, between the constellations Circinus and Centaurus, centered at RA 14h 43m Dec −62° 30′, in Circinus. This "guest star" was observed by Chinese astronomers in the Book of Later Han ,and might have been recorded in Roman literature. It remained visible in the night sky for eight months. This is believed to be the first supernova for which records exist.

The gaseous shell RCW 86 is probably the supernova remnant of this event and has a relatively large angular size of roughly 45 arc minutes (larger than the apparent size of the full moon, which varies from 29 to 34 arc minutes). The distance to RCW 86 is estimated to be 9,100 light-years). Recent X-ray studies show a good match for the expected age.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

NGC 2170 From Chile

Explanation APOD: Is this a painting or a photograph? In this classic celestial still life composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170, also known as the Angel Nebula, shines near the image center. Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household items that still life painters often choose for their subjects, the clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars featured here are also commonly found in this setting -- a massive, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The giant molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only 2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be over 60 light-years across.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

NGC 1760

NGC 1760 (also designated LHA 120-N 11, informally N11) is an emission nebula, or actually a complex ring of emission nebulae connected by glowing filaments over 1000 light-years across and located about 160,000 light-years away within the Large Magellanic Cloud, in the constellation of Dorado. It is one of the most active star formation regions in the nearby Universe.

It is one of the largest and most spectacular star-forming regions within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the largest satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. In fact, it is the second largest, only surpassed in the size and activity by the Tarantula nebula (or 30 Doradus), located at the opposite side of the LMC. The dramatic and colorful features visible in the nebula are the telltale signs of star formation.

A leading hypothesis for the formation of NGC 1760 is that several successive generations of stars, each of which formed further away from the center of the nebula than the last, have created shells of gas and dust. These shells were blown away from the newborn stars in the turmoil of their energetic birth and early life, creating the ring- and bean-like shapes so prominent in this image.

In NGC 1760 altogether, three generations of stars can be found. ‘Grandmother’ stars that have carved a large superbubble, leading to the birth of the cluster of massive bright blue-white ‘mother’ stars (NGC 1761) in the center. These in turn gives birth to new star ‘babies’ inside the dark globules.

NGC 1761 (also designated LH9) is composed of about 50 massive hot young stars that emit intense ultraviolet radiation that has eroded a large hole in their surroundings. These stars are among the most massive stars known anywhere in the Universe. The bright region just above center is N11B, another explosive domain where stars are being formed even today.

Although the Large Magellanic Cloud is much smaller than our own Milky Way, it is an active star-forming galaxy. Studying these stellar nurseries helps astronomers understand a lot more about how stars are born and their ultimate development and lifespan.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

The Carina Nebula (catalogued as NGC 3372; also known as the Grand Nebula, Great Nebula in Carina, or Eta Carinae Nebula) is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, and is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm. The nebula is approximately 8,500 light-years (2,600 pc) from Earth.

The nebula has within its boundaries the large Carina OB1 association and several related open clusters, including numerous O-type stars and several Wolf–Rayet stars. Carina OB1 encompasses the star clusters Trumpler 14 and Trumpler 16. Trumpler 14 is one of the youngest known star clusters at half a million years old. Trumpler 16 is the home of WR 25, currently the most luminous star known in our Milky Way galaxy, together with the less luminous but more massive and famous Eta Carinae star system and the O2 supergiant HD 93129A. Trumpler 15, Collinder 228, Collinder 232, NGC 3324, and NGC 3293 are also considered members of the association. NGC 3293 is the oldest and furthest from Trumpler 14, indicating sequential and ongoing star formation.

IC 2220:

Located towards the constellation of Carina, IC 2220 is a fairly rare example of a yellow reflection nebula. It was given the popular name of the Toby Jug Nebula in 1979 after its appearance in colour photographs taken by David Malin at the Anglo-Australian Observatory.

The central illuminating star it surrounds is the variable red giant V341 Carinae. Studies done by professional astronomers in the past attributed its formation to either mass loss or being ejected by an unseen companion. There is often difficulty in ascertaining the three dimensional structure of a nebula based on our two dimensional view of it. IC 2220 is likely to be both bipolar and biconical.

Reflection nebulae surrounding red giant stars are scarce and the very few examples that are known happen to be a case of ambient interstellar matter in the surrounding region being illuminated. Despite the Toby Jug Nebula lying in a region of interstellar dust, it is unique that not only is it illuminated by a red giant but it has also been produced by it as well via mass loss. The visibility of the nebula is produced by dust grains reflecting the light of the star and it contains a mixture of elements with silicon dioxide being the most likely responsible for the reflection.

Studies by professional astronomers in the past postulated that V341 Carinae was a former member of the open cluster NGC 2516 in the past. This association was based on both sharing similar distances. However in subsequent decades, better quality and more accurate astrometry data from the Hipparcos satellite showed that V341 Carinae had a much closer distance than NGC 2516 of 1200 light years while NGC 2516 has a distance of 1300 light years.

However in the 21st century, more detailed observations are not exclusively reserved for the professional realm of astronomy. Through the proliferation of the internet and other technologies, it is possible for amateur astronomers to own or operate remote observatories. In fact, this image is the product of a remote observatory in Chile being operared by the image author in America.

One such amateur astrophotographer called Josep Drudis who owns a remote observatory in Australia (along with a certain Don Goldman), with the assistance of his daughter Anna, serendipitously took hydrogen alpha exposures for IC 2220 in 2018 for the sake of curiosity and exploration. What was uncovered could not have been predicted, the presence of multiple overlapping arc shaped nebulosities and bubbles. Visually these are represented by the red waves of hydrogen gas visible in this deep image.

Taking into account the well known history of V341 Carinae involving mass loss, these likely represent multiple episodes of mass loss prior to the event that generated the yellow reflection nebula. This is further supported by the separation of the various parts of the whole nebula. There is an absence of ionized hydrogen alpha emission coinciding with the reflection nebula as this is younger and more recent and probably not containing any hydrogen. Since V341 Carinae is known to be a red giant star with an age of 50 million years, it is not unreasonable to assume that the larger and older hydrogen bubbles represent the outer layers of the star that have been ejected in the past. As of March 2020, these enigmatic structures haven't been studied by professional astronomers yet.

Two unlikely nebulae located side-by-side. The pinkish nebula on the middle bottom, known as NGC 2014, is an ionized gas cloud comprised almost entirely of hydrogen. A cluster of stars are responsible for the characteristic glow accompanying the ionization. When the stellar winds pierced through the galaxy, hydrogen atoms were stripped of their electrons when they came in contact with ultraviolet radiation streaming from young, energetic stars . The clouds of gas were then reborn when the hydrogen and their electrons recombined.

Its blueish partner (pictured on the bottom right) is NGC 2020. Its bubble-like cavity was naturally carved out as gaseous material was carried away by stellar winds.In contrast to NGC 2014, the bluish hue seen here is the work of one single, massive, unstable star called a Wolf-Rayet star. Instead of acting as an agent for the ionization of hydrogen, this star is responsible for ionizing surrounding oxygen atoms. (Hence the variation in color)

The rose-like Dragon Head Nebula NGC 2032/2040 is pictured to the left.

See the labeled version by Sakib Rasool for all the wonderful objects

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

RGB - 120 Min each, HA - 630-min, O3 - 630 min

Puppis A, supernova remnant in Puppis

Driven by the explosion of a massive star, supernova remnant Puppis A is blasting into the surrounding interstellar medium about 7,000 light-years away. As the supernova remnant expands into its clumpy, non-uniform surroundings, shocked filaments of oxygen atoms glow in green-blue hues. Hydrogen and nitrogen are in red. Light from the initial supernova itself, triggered by the collapse of the massive star's core, would have reached Earth about 3,700 years ago. The Puppis A remnant is actually seen through outlying emission from the closer but more ancient Vela supernova remnant, near the crowded plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Still glowing across the electromagnetic spectrum Puppis A remains one of the brightest sources in the X-ray sky.

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK

RGB - 120 Min each, HA - 990-min, O3 - 1,050 min

NGC 2174 (also known as Monkey Head Nebula) is an H II emission nebula located in the constellation Orion and is associated with the open star cluster NGC 2175. It is thought to be located about 6,400 light-years away from Earth. The nebula may have formed through hierarchical collapse.

Taken with a Planewave 24" f6.5 on a Planewave HD Mount and a SBIG 16803 camera. Imaged from "Dark Sky New Mexico" in Animas.

300 min each RGB, 960-min HA and 690 min-O3

NGC 1949 IN LMC(Large Magellanic cloud)

This is a very small part of the LMC (Large Magellanic Cloud) A nice resolution that brings out many uncatalogued nebula and many wonderful star clusters. Make sure to take a look at the high resolution image.

Lots of info on the LMC here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Magellanic_Cloud

Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK from Martin Pugh’s online telescope.

RGB - 30 Min each, HA - 13.5 Hours, O3 - 10 Hours

IC 434(horsehead Nebula) and NGC 2023

This is a hybrid image from 2 different telescopes in Chile

Explanation Via APOD: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex. About five light-years "tall", the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the glowing red emission nebula IC 434. Stars are forming within the dark cloud. Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot, young star, is at the lower left.

IC 434 and NGC 2023 From: Data from El Sauce, Chile 17” Planewave CDK from Martin Pugh’s online telescope.

LRGBHA - Lum 280, Red 260, G 140, B 200, HA 420 = 22 hours

NGC 2023 From: Telescope: 16" RCOS, FLI 16803, Planewave 200HR, Location: Cito, Chile

LRGB 14hoursL and 8hours each RGB = 38 hours

Total Exposure time 60 hours

Sh2 -140 is a visible emission nebula in the constellation of Cepheus ; it is part of the great star-forming region of the Cepheus molecular nebula complex .

Taken with a Planewave 24" f6.5 on a Planewave HD Mount and a SBIG 16803 camera. Imaged from "Dark Sky New Mexico" in Animas.

LRGB- 180 min each,HA 360 min.

Snaking across the starfields of the constellation Ophiuchus, LDN 43 is an obscure dark nebula and star forming region that contains the embedded reflection nebulae RNO 90 and RNO 91, which are illuminated by young stellar objects (YSO).

LDN 43 has received lots of attention from professional astronomers seeking to understand the mysteries of star formation. It is one of the closest star forming regions with a distance of slightly more than 500 light years.

The area around it suffers from a high degree of dust extinction. This is best illustrated by the interstellar reddening of the majority of the stars in this image as well a few distant background galaxies. Any light travelling from these sources passes through this veil of dust, which absorbs the blue light making everything appear more red than it actually is. Interstellar dust extinction is prevalent in many parts of the Milky Way and many galaxies would shine more brightly if not for this intervening dust.

Observations with radio telescopes have uncovered multiple molecular outflows in the vicinity of RNO 91, which are an indicator of the energetic activity of nascent YSO's. The outflows have carved out a cavity in the surrounding dark cloud, which is illuminated by the source of RNO 91, a type of YSO known as a T Tauri star. This is known to be encircled by a protoplanetary disk, which is a solar system in the making.

Explanation: Framing a bright emission region, this telescopic view looks out along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the nebula rich constellation Cygnus the Swan. Popularly called the Tulip Nebula, the reddish glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust is also found in the 1959 catalog by astronomer Stewart Sharpless as Sh2-101. About 8,000 light-years distant and 70 light-years across the complex and beautiful nebula blossoms at the center of this composite image. Ultraviolet radiation from young energetic stars at the edge of the Cygnus OB3 association, including O star HDE 227018, ionizes the atoms and powers the emission from the Tulip Nebula. HDE 227018 is the bright star near the center of the nebula. Also framed in the field of view is microquasar Cygnus X-1, one of the strongest X-ray sources in planet Earth's sky. Driven by powerful jets from a black hole accretion disk, its fainter visible curved shock front lies above and right, just beyond the cosmic Tulip's petals

Explanation: Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After a few million years, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin anew. The expanding debris cloud known as Cassiopeia A is an example of this final phase of the stellar life cycle. Light from the explosion which created this supernova remnant would have been first seen in planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago, although it took that light about 11,000 years to reach us. This false-color image, composed of X-ray and optical image data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, shows the still hot filaments and knots in the remnant. It spans about 30 light-years at the estimated distance of Cassiopeia A. High-energy X-ray emission from specific elements has been color coded, silicon in red, sulfur in yellow, calcium in green and iron in purple, to help astronomers explore the recycling of our galaxy's star stuff. Still expanding, the outer blast wave is seen in blue hues. The bright speck near the center is a neutron star, the incredibly dense, collapsed remains of the massive stellar core.

47 Tucanae or NGC 104

47 Tucanae is the second brightest globular cluster after Omega Centauri, and telescopically reveals about ten thousand stars, many appearing within a small dense central core. The cluster may contain an intermediate-mass black hole.

Everything you ever wanted to know about this cluster here: 47 Tucanae

Image taken at SSRO in 2015, 4hours each LRGB

Copyright: Mark Hanson, S. Mazlin, R. Parker ,W. Keller, T. Tse, P. Proulx, R. Vanderbei, M. Elvov; SSRO/PROMPT/CTIO

NGC 7380

Taken by Paul Gardner at Great Basin Observatory, Processed by Mark Hanson

Explanation Wikipedia:

NGC 7380 (also known as the Wizard Nebula) is an open cluster discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. William Herschel included his sister's discovery in his catalog, and labeled it H VIII.77. It is also known as 142 in the 1959 Sharpless catalog (Sh2-142). This reasonably large nebula is located in Cepheus. It is extremely difficult to observe visually, usually requiring very dark skies and an O-III filter.

Located 7200 light years away, the Wizard nebula, surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans about 100 light years, making it appear larger than the angular extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small telescope toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia (Cepheus). Although the nebula may last only a few million years, some of the stars being formed may outlive our Sun.

Taken with a PlaneWave CDK 700 with exposure times as follows: Lum-120min, Red-120min, Green-120min, Blue-120min, S2-200min, O3-200min, HA-200min.

SH2-239, LBN 821

Explanation via APOD: The cosmic brush of star formation composed this alluring mix of dust and dark nebulae. Cataloged as Sh2-239 and LDN 1551, the region lies near the southern end of the Taurus molecular cloud complex some 450 light-years distant. Stretching for nearly 3 light-years, the canvas abounds with signs of embedded young stellar objects driving dynamic outflows into the surrounding medium. Included near the center of the frame, a compact, tell-tale red jet of shocked hydrogen gas is near the position of infrared source IRS5, known to be a system of protostars surrounded by dust disks. Just below it are the broader, brighter wings of HH 102, one of the region's many Herbig-Haro objects, nebulosity's associated with newly born stars. Estimates indicate that the star forming LDN 1551 region contains a total amount of material equivalent to about 50 times the mass of the Sun.

Taken with a Planewave 17” f6.7 on a Planewave HD Mount and a SBIG 16803 camera. Imaged from "Dark Sky New Mexico" in Animas. LRGB- 240 each, HA- 300m

Hubble's Variable Nebula

Copyright Mark Hanson

Description by "Sakib Rasool"

"Like a cosmic flower, Hubble's Variable Nebula is a lovely reflection that appears to sprout from the bright star R Monocerotis. Otherwise catalogued as NGC 2261 by the astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888 in his iconic New General Catalogue, this nebula was discovered in 1783 by William Herschel. It is also famous for the being the first deep sky object to have been photographed with the Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in 1949 by none other than Edwin Hubble.

The popular name of this nebula arises from it being studied by Edwin Hubble in 1916 who noticed it changed in brightness. It is now known that its dramatic and quite quick changes in brightness and appearance are the result of opaque clouds of dust situated between the star and the nebula. The appearance of NGC 2261 has been observed to change on timescales of a few months if not a few days!

The reddish nebulosity visible to the north of NGC 2261 is an example of a Herbig Haro object, a type of jet ejected by a young star that glows by the energy generated by the gas colliding with its surrounding space. They were originally independently discovered by the astronomers George Herbig and Guillermo Haro. This Herbig Haro object is catalogued as HH 39 and more than a thousand are currently known. An analysis of the proper motion of the knots in HH 39 show that it is moving away from R Monocerotis and NGC 2261."

LRGBHa 300,180,180,180,450 Taken with a PlaneWave 24" CDK from Animas New Mexico.

Thank you,

Mark

IC 348 (also known as IC 1985) is a 2 million year old open star cluster surrounded by a reflection nebula of about 15 light-years across, located some 1028 light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation of Perseus, while it is receding from us at 14 kilometers per second. It is embedded in the star-forming region called the Perseus molecular cloud.

The light from the roughly 400 stars in the cluster is scattered by clouds of dust in the star-forming region, producing the reflection nebula. The cluster’s brightest members are hot, bright bluish Main Sequence stars, but some stars are still in the process of formation, so star formation is an ongoing process in the region. The most massive stars in the cluster are the stars of the binary star system called BD+31°643.

About half of the stars in the cluster have a circumstellar disk, of which 60% are primordial disks, where planets could be forming. Studies of circumstellar disks in clusters of various ages are expected to yield a better understanding of the dynamics of planet formation.

Inside this extremely young cluster are also about thirty brown dwarfs discovered, with masses as low as 15 to 80 times that of Jupiter, as well as three brown dwarfs with estimated masses of less than 10 times that of Jupiter.

Brown dwarfs lose heat as they age, so they are more readily discovered while they are still young. Current models estimate that their surfaces are approximately 900-1000 degrees Kelvin (about 600-700 degrees Celsius). That’s extremely cool for objects that have just formed, which implies that they have the lowest masses of any of this type of object that we’ve seen to date. The discovery of the dwarfs in IC 348 has allowed astronomers to set new limits on the lowest mass objects.

Recently, astronomers discovered an unusual variable object inside IC 348 that appears to be a close binary pair of protostars, named LRLL 54361 (L54361 for short). This bright object emits flashes of light every 25.34 days. These two protostars drag material inwards from a surrounding disk of gas and dust. The light flashes are probably due to this material suddenly being dumped onto the growing stars as they near one another in their orbits, unleashing a blast of radiation.

This is only the third time this phenomenon has been observed, and it is the most powerful such beacon seen to date. It is also the first to be seen associated with a light echo. Flashing double star systems like this one are rare, because close binaries account for only a few percent of our galaxy’s stellar population. Moreover, the pulsing light is likely to be a brief phenomenon in the early life of a star.

Spanning an area of 35 arcminutes on the sky towards the constellation of Cassiopeia, this enigmatic loop of ionized nebulosity is a supernova remnant catalogued as CTB 1. This name denotes it as a radio source compiled in the Caltech Observatory list B catalogue of 110 radio sources discovered in a radio survey in 1960. A few other CTB sources also correspond with a supernova remnant such as CTB 80.

The radio source CTB 1 was suspected to be a supernova remnant in 1960 and confirmed as a supernova remnant in 1971. Optical emission associated with it was discovered by Sidney van den Bergh in 1973. The optical structure consists of a roughly circular shell with a breakout rupture towards the north, which also coincides with a break in the radio shell at this location. This is likely to be the result of the supernova remnant's interaction with a nearby cavity of neutral hydrogen gas. The Ha shell is composed of multiple interlocking limb brightened filaments with faint emission also extending beyond the main shell towards the south. The OIII structure consists of a series of filaments forming a curved arc towards one side. Close inspection also reveals a small dark globule silhouetted against the southern part.

CTB 1 belongs to the morphological class of mixed-morphology supernova remnants, which consist of a radio shell with central x-ray emission. Other prominent examples of this class include IC 443 and W28. At a distance of 10,000 light years, the diameter of CTB 1 is 100 light years. The expansion of the shell in a highly dynamic environment suggests that the progenitor star that exploded to form the supernova remnant might have been a B or O-type supergiant star. The age of CTB 1 has many estimates but the most commonly accepted one is 10,000 years.

Interestingly this object has been considered erroneously as a planetary nebula and is catalogued as Abell 85 in George Abell's second version of the Abell planetary nebula catalogue published in 1966 and was also included in the first version published in 1955. It is also wrongly catalogued as a HII region in Beverley Lynd's amusingly named 1965 catalogue of bright nebulae as LBN 576.

Cassiopeia's Dark Serpent

Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson

Description by Mark Hanson

NGC 654 is a brilliant colorful open cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1787. Here is a great paper " from 1960 "Yerkes Observatory" not far from my home here in Madison, Wi.

This deep image shows many more features of this area. The dark serpent shaped area seemingly getting ready to strike the open cluster NGC 654 are "Lynds Dark Nebula" or LDN objects. These were objects cataloged by Beverly T Lynds in 1962 called "Catalogue of Dark Nebula". Here we have three LDN objects 1332,1334,1337. Also, TGU H855 P2 another dark nebula.

Next to NGC 654 we have VDB 6 a faint blue reflection nebula. VDB objects are 158 reflection nebulae cataloged by astronomer Sidney Van Den Bergh.

"IC 1871 and SFO11 deep within the Soul Nebula"

"Zooming in on the northeastern part of the Soul Nebula, this image shows a few groups of bright rimmed globules that are collectively catalogued as IC 1871 (right) and SFO 12 (left). Their gaseous forms are sculpted by the UV radiation and stellar winds from many hot young stars in the star cluster associated with the Soul Nebula. The term "bright rimmed" arises from the side of the globules that are facing the ionzing source exhibiting bright rims as a result of the gas and dust becoming more compressed and denser and therefore brighter than the surrounding material. In the case of IC 1871 and SFO 12, they point towards the cluster situated West of them (not visible in image).

IC stands for "Index Catalog" and was the first major update to the NGC "New General Catalog"

SFO stands for "Sugitani, Fukui and Ogura", the surnames of three Japanese astronomers who compiled the SFO catalogue of bright rimmed globules in HII regions. It was published in 1991 (northern hemisphere) and 1994 (southern hemisphere) by Koji Sugitani, Yasuo Fukui and Katsuo Ogura and has 89 in total."

Taken with a Planewave 24" and 17” f6.7 on a Planewave HD Mount and a SBIG 16803 camera. Imaged from "Dark Sky New Mexico" in Animas.

IC 1311 in Cygnus

This large amazing rich open cluster with more than a hundred stars! Is embedded in an area of abundant emission nebulosity. The area around it also includes the elongated dark nebula LDN 885, the round DSH planetary nebula Patchick 6, which was discovered by the DSH member Dana Patchick and another open cluster SAC Do 2.

Sharpless 82 (Sh2-82) The Little Cocoon

"A small but enchanting denizen of the Milky Way, Sh2-82 is a beautiful cloud of gas and dust consisting of an emission nebula enveloped by a hazy reflection nebula. It is embedded in the dark nebula LDN 727 and is the site of some star formation and young stellar objects (YSO). Located at a distance of approximately 3600 light years, Sh2-82 is ionized by the star HD 231616, which can be seen near the centre."

NGC 7538

NGC 7538, near the more famous Bubble Nebula, is located in the constellation Cepheus. It is located about 9,100 light-years from Earth. It is home to the biggest yet discovered protostar which is about 300 times the size of the Solar System.

Taken at "Stellar Winds Observatory" a/k/a Stan Watson Observatory at Dark Sky New Mexico

Telescope: Planewave 17" f6.7 on a Planewave HD Mount. Camera: SBIG 16803 Exposure: 300 min Luminance, 300 of each RGB, 500 min HA, 300 min S2 and, 1000 min O3.

These towering tendrils of cosmic dust and gas sit at the heart of M16, or the Eagle Nebula. The aptly named Pillars of Creation, featured in this stunning Hubble image, are part of an active star-forming region within the nebula and hide newborn stars in their wispy columns.

Although this is not Hubble’s first image of this iconic feature of the Eagle Nebula, it is the most detailed. The blue colors in the image represent oxygen, red is sulfur, and green represents both nitrogen and hydrogen. The pillars are bathed in the scorching ultraviolet light from a cluster of young stars located just outside the frame. The winds from these stars are slowly eroding the towers of gas and dust.

Stretching roughly 4 to 5 light-years, the Pillars of Creation are a fascinating but relatively small feature of the entire Eagle Nebula, which spans 70 by 55 light-years. The nebula, discovered in 1745 by the Swiss astronomer Jean-Philippe Loys de Chéseaux, is located 7,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens. With an apparent magnitude of 6, the Eagle Nebula can be spotted through a small telescope and is best viewed during July. A large telescope and optimal viewing conditions are necessary to resolve the Pillars of Creation.

SH2-278, Sharpless 278

"Billowing crimson waves of hydrogen gas cascade in an ocean of tranquility in this uncommon view of the rarely photographed emission nebula Sh2-278. Adding a ghostly presence to the proceedings are clouds of blue dust glowing by reflected starlight.

The most apparent component of this cosmic vista is the bright rimmed dark nebula LDN 1634 to the left of the image. Although small, but easily discernable, multiple red knots of nebulosity are visible near the center of LDN 1634. These constitute a flow of Herbig Haro objects, tiny jets launched by young protostars that glow by being collisionally excited.

The largest of these is known as RNO 40 and the RNO catalogue of 'red nebulous objects' was published by the astronomer Martin Cohen in 1980. The RNO 40 outflow is driven by a protostar called IRAS 05173-0555 and is also catalogued as HH 240.

Professional studies have concluded that Sh2-278 is either a remnant of the gas in the Orion Molecular Cloud that formed the Orion OB1 association or a cloud that was pushed to its current location by the winds and pressure of the OB association. In the sky, it is located north of Rigel."

SFO 11,11NE,11E in LBN 670

You can see many of the bright rimmed globules clearly, these are the result of UV radiation and winds from hot young stars that have had an effect on the gas around them. Sometimes I wonder what the nebula the Sun was born in would have looked like?

SFO stands for "Sugitani, Fukui and Ogura", the surnames of three Japanese astronomers who compiled the SFO catalogue of bright rimmed globules in HII regions. It was published in 1991 (northern hemisphere) and 1994 (southern hemisphere) by Koji Sugitani, Yasuo Fukui and Katsuo Ogura and has 89 in total. For no particular reason it isn't well known outside the professional community.

Explanation from Sakib Razool

Telescope: 24" Planewave, SBIG 16803, Planewave 200HR

Location: Stellar Winds Observatory DSNM, Animas New Mexico

LRGB/HA

LRGB 300 min each, HA 840 min

Explanation: The 1970s are sometimes ignored by astronomers. In particular, this beautiful grouping of reflection nebulae in Orion - NGC 1977, NGC 1975, and NGC 1973 - are usually overlooked in favor of the substantial glow from the nearby stellar nursery better known as the Orion Nebula. Found along Orion's sword just north of the bright Orion Nebula complex, these reflection nebulae are also associated with Orion's giant molecular cloud about 1,500 light-years away, but are dominated by the characteristic blue color of interstellar dust reflecting light from hot young stars. North is down in this sharp color telescopic image from New South Wales, Australia, so the more familiar Orion Nebula borders the top of the view. NGC 1977 stretches across the field just above center, separated from NGC 1973 (below left) and NGC 1975 (below right) by darker regions of obscuring dust. Many northern hemisphere observers claim to see the general shape of a running man in the cosmic dust cloud but, of course, they're looking at the view upside down.

Explanation: South of the large star-forming region known as the Orion Nebula, lies bright blue reflection nebula NGC 1999. At the edge of the Orion molecular cloud complex some 1,500 light-years distant, NGC 1999's illumination is provided by the embedded variable star V380 Orionis. That nebula is marked with a dark sideways T-shape near center in this cosmic vista that spans about 10 light-years. The dark shape was once assumed to be an obscuring dust cloud seen in silhouette against the bright reflection nebula. But recent infrared images indicate the shape is likely a hole blown through the nebula itself by energetic young stars. In fact, this region abounds with energetic young stars producing jets and outflows with luminous shock waves. Cataloged as Herbig-Haro (HH) objects, named for astronomers George Herbig and Guillermo Haro, the shocks look like red gashes in this scene that includes HH1 and HH2 just below NGC 1999. The stellar jets push through the surrounding material at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second.

Explanation: Colorful NGC 1579 resembles the better known Trifid Nebula, but lies much farther north in planet Earth's sky, in the heroic constellation Perseus. About 2,100 light-years away and 3 light-years across, NGC 1579 is, like the Trifid, a study in contrasting blue and red colors, with dark dust lanes prominent in the nebula's central regions. In both, dust reflects starlight to produce beautiful blue reflection nebulae. But unlike the Trifid, in NGC 1579 the reddish glow is not emission from clouds of glowing hydrogen gas excited by ultraviolet light from a nearby hot star. Instead, the dust in NGC 1579 drastically diminishes, reddens, and scatters the light from an embedded, extremely young, massive star, itself a strong emitter of the characteristic red hydrogen alpha light.

"The Lost Pillar of Creation"

Most know of the "Pillars of Creation,” which is a famous image from the Hubble Space Telescope, but few know of this hidden pillar.  What a gem! This “no name” pillar is all alone in the dark shadows of the Heart and Soul Nebula. In between open cluster NGC 1024 and IC 1805, the pillar itself looks like a finger pointing to the wonderful Melotte 15 Nebula at the center of IC 1805. A beautiful, but quite faint object. It needs long Ha exposures to really make it pop out.

Although very photogenic and well placed for northern observers these two objects are rarely imaged: LBN 762 / MBM13 dubbed the Drunken Dragon Nebula can be seen in this image. This field is located in Aries just south of MBM12.This relatively young association of gas and dust is home to an early stellar nursery and a few newborn stars . Once believed to be the nearest dust cloud from our solar system it is now suggested to be about 850 light-years away.The structure of LBN 762 is quite amazing, one must wonder what forces are at play to create such intricate features. Numerous background galaxies are visible, some even through relatively dense part of the translucent clouds.

These cosmic clouds have blossomed 1,300 light-years away, in the fertile starfields of the constellation Cepheus. Called the Iris Nebula, NGC 7023 is not the only nebula to evoke the imagery of flowers, though. Still, this deep telescopic image shows off the Iris Nebula's range of colors and symmetries, embedded in surrounding fields of interstellar dust. Within the Iris itself, dusty nebular material surrounds a hot, young star. The dominant color of the brighter reflection nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting starlight. Central filaments of the reflection nebula glow with a faint reddish photoluminesence as some dust grains effectively convert the star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Infrared observations indicate that this nebula contains complex carbon molecules known as PAHs. The pretty blue petals of the Iris Nebula span about six light-years. The colorful field-of-view stretches almost five Full Moons across the sky.

Cone and Fox Fur Nebula Mosaic

Taken from DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico
14.5" RCOS F8, Apogee U16M High Cooling
HA 390 min S2 330min O3 300min Red 135min Green 105min Blue 135min
Calibrated,combined in CCD Stack all other processing done using PS5.

Explanation: Strange shapes and textures can be found in neighborhood of the Cone Nebula. The unusual shapes originate from fine interstellar dust reacting in complex ways with the energetic light and hot gas being expelled by the young stars. The brightest star on the right of the above picture is S Mon, while the region just above it has been nicknamed the Fox Fur Nebula for its color and structure. The blue glow directly surrounding S Mon results from reflection, where neighboring dust reflects light from the bright star. The orange glow that encompasses the whole region results not only from dust reflection but also emission from hydrogen gas ionized by starlight. S Mon is part of a young open cluster of stars named NGC 2264, located about 2500 light years away toward the constellation of Monoceros. The origin of the mysterious geometric Cone Nebula, visible on the far left, remains a mystery.

The Fox Fur Nebula

Taken from DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico
14.5" RCOS F8, Apogee U16M High Cooling
HA 390 min S2 330min O3 300min Red 135min Green 105min Blue 135min
Calibrated,combined in CCD Stack all other processing done using PS5.

Explanation: Strange shapes and textures can be found in neighborhood of the Cone Nebula. The unusual shapes originate from fine interstellar dust reacting in complex ways with the energetic light and hot gas being expelled by the young stars. The brightest star on the right of the above picture is S Mon, while the region just above it has been nicknamed the Fox Fur Nebula for its color and structure. The blue glow directly surrounding S Mon results from reflection, where neighboring dust reflects light from the bright star. The orange glow that encompasses the whole region results not only from dust reflection but also emission from hydrogen gas ionized by starlight. S Mon is part of a young open cluster of stars named NGC 2264, located about 2500 light years away toward the constellation of Monoceros. The origin of the mysterious geometric Cone Nebula, visible on the far left, remains a mystery.

The Cone Nebula

Taken from DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico
14.5" RCOS F8, Apogee U16M High Cooling
HA 390 min S2 330min O3 300min Red 135min Green 105min Blue 135min
Calibrated,combined in CCD Stack all other processing done using PS5.

Explanation: Strange shapes and textures can be found in neighborhood of the Cone Nebula. The unusual shapes originate from fine interstellar dust reacting in complex ways with the energetic light and hot gas being expelled by the young stars. The brightest star on the right of the above picture is S Mon, while the region just above it has been nicknamed the Fox Fur Nebula for its color and structure. The blue glow directly surrounding S Mon results from reflection, where neighboring dust reflects light from the bright star. The orange glow that encompasses the whole region results not only from dust reflection but also emission from hydrogen gas ionized by starlight. S Mon is part of a young open cluster of stars named NGC 2264, located about 2500 light years away toward the constellation of Monoceros. The origin of the mysterious geometric Cone Nebula, visible on the far left, remains a mystery.

NGC 1027 and friends of IC 1805 Mosaic

Taken from DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico
14.5" RCOS F8, Apogee U16M High Cooling
These times were for each half of the 2 pane mosaic
HA 9-60min SubsS2 8-45min SubsO3 8-60minRGB 2x2 140 each 20 min Subs
Processing

NGC 1027 and friends of IC 1805 Mosaic

Taken from DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico
14.5" RCOS F8, Apogee U16M High Cooling
These times were for each half of the 2 pane mosaic
HA 9-60min SubsS2 8-45min SubsO3 8-60minRGB 2x2 140 each 20 min Subs
Processing