Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  Checkmark Nebula  ·  IC 4706  ·  IC 4707  ·  Lobster Nebula  ·  M 17  ·  NGC 6618  ·  Swan Nebula  ·  omega Nebula
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NGC 6618 The Swan Nebula - a HDR Composition in OIII, Ian Parr
NGC 6618 The Swan Nebula - a HDR Composition in OIII
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NGC 6618 The Swan Nebula - a HDR Composition in OIII

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 6618 The Swan Nebula - a HDR Composition in OIII, Ian Parr
NGC 6618 The Swan Nebula - a HDR Composition in OIII
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 6618 The Swan Nebula - a HDR Composition in OIII

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Description

NGC 6618 is the Omega Nebula , also known as the Swan Nebula, and was catalogued by Messier as M17 and is an H II region in the constellation Sagittarius.
It is between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and it spans some 15 light-years in diameter.  The cloud of interstellar matter of which this nebula is a part is roughly 40 light-years in diameter and has a mass of 30,000 solar masses. The total mass of the Omega Nebula is an estimated 800 solar masses. It is considered one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions of our galaxy with a local geometry similar to the Orion Nebula except that it is viewed edge-on rather than face-on. 

Visually through a good 20 inch telescope it can be a remarkable voyage starting from 32mm Nagler Wide Field down to a 3mm Radian with and  without a OIII filter (which helps) and it continues to to deliver a remarkable depth of detail at all scales. I have spent hours enjoying the rich variety of fields available on a good night.

Last night I acquired 20 subs at 60 seconds, 10 subs at 120 seconds, 12 sub at 300 seconds and 9 at 600 seconds and processed them in Pixinsight as a HDR composition> A HDR Multiscale Transform was applied which suits this kind of data.

With good luck a a few more clear nights I will do the HA and possibly the SII (which rarely seems worth the effort).

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NGC 6618 The Swan Nebula - a HDR Composition in OIII, Ian Parr