Imaged nights of 5/1/2021, 5/2/2021, 5/04/2021
NGC6309 is an almost never imaged planetary in Ophiuchus.
The commonly named Box Nebula is very small, only 0.8 arc minutes across the main body of the nebula. But it is exceptionally bright. RGB subs are much brighter than the Ha and Oiii subs and even with 30 second exposures for my rig are overexposed. Therefore only a slight amount of the Ha and Oiii have been added to this image.
Two faint extensions curve out of the main body on opposite sides giving this PN an appearance resembling a propeller. Very strange. And there is an intricate ropelike ring visible inside the main body of the PN.
Wikipedia:
NGC 6309, also known as the Box Nebula, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by the German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel in 1876. It has a luminosity of about 1800 times of the Sun. The distance to this nebula is not well known, but it is assumed to be about 6,500 light-years or 2,000 parsecs.
NGC 6309 is a quadrupolar nebula, with two pairs of lobes. Surrounding the pair is a spherical shell. The spherical shell formed before the four lobes.
My Collections:
Abell Planetary Nebulae (Complete)Planetary NebulaeGalaxiesSharpless 2 Objects
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