M17, Swan Nebula (Rick Veregin)

M17, Swan Nebula

M17 has many names, but personally I only see the Swan floating serenely in space. The Swan is a bright emission nebula of gas ionized by hot young stars, split by lanes of opaque dust (like the impossibly dark square that defines the Swan's neck). The red emissions that dominate the image are from H-alpha, SII and HeI, excited atoms produced by the ionizing radiation. In the most energetic regions, near the core, emissions are also excited in the green-blue from OIII and H-beta. The Swan Nebula spans about 15 light years, and is the most visible part of a GMC (giant molecular cloud) about 5,500 light-years away. This nebula has been a star forming region for as long as 5 million years, and stars are still being formed to this day--though the current stellar nursery is visually hidden by the hydrogen gas emissions. These new stars are not seen here, but can be seen in the many IR images from space.

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Status	Basic failed
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	1907850
PixInsight job	n/a
PixInsight queue size	n/a
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M17, Swan Nebula

M17, Swan Nebula

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M17, Swan Nebula

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