Celestial Swan (M17) - The bright region of ionized hydrogen emission in the center of the frame is known as the Swan (or Omega, or Checkmark, or Lobster or Horseshoe) nebula. One of the closest star forming regions in our galaxy, it lies 5,500 light-years distant in the constellation of Sagittarius, the Archer. In the past, I've often observed this object visually through my old 10 inch Meade LX6 telescope. The luminance image below simulates that view, and provides some clarity as to the origin of the Swan moniker. The image shows only the brightest central region of the RGB color image. South is up in both images to display the Swan 'right side up'.
Equipment and processing used: Celestron RASA-11 telescope with ZWO ASI294 MC Pro one shot color camera riding on an iOptron CEM120-EC2 mount. N.I.N.A./PHD2 used for image acquisition. 79 individual five minute exposures (6.6 hours of data), captured over the nights of July 10th - 13th, 2023 from our observatory in Mariposa, Ca. Processed using PixInsight.
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