Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cepheus (Cep)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6951
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NGC 6951 - 'Integrated Flux Nebula' in Cepheus., astroeyes
NGC 6951 - 'Integrated Flux Nebula' in Cepheus.
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NGC 6951 - 'Integrated Flux Nebula' in Cepheus.

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Description

I did a bit more on this image passing it through various filters and colour palettes, trying to enhance the IFN. Finally settled on the processing shown in image D, which shows the extent of the IFN quite nicely.

Like me, you may have heard vaguely about the 'Integrated Flux Nebula' but not really understood much about it. The IFN is best known for being observed around M81 and M82; in fact it was first imaged by Halton Arp in 1965. There is no way I could detect the IFN around M81 using my equipment from my location but there are other regions of the IFN that are a little brighter and maybe, I hoped, a little easier to image. One such region is around the spiral galaxy ngc 6951 in Cepheus.

Finally, last week, after weeks of poor skies, a reasonably clear night, or at least a few hours. I managed to gather only 81 minutes of exposure in 3 minute subs before clouds rolled in again. The problem with imaging the IFN is that it is so faint it is virtually in the 'noise' and therefore it is really difficult to do any effective noise reduction without completely removing the IFN! So I didn't do any noise reduction on this image and had to stretch it quite a bit more than usual, so it's not very smooth. But, I believe you can see the IFN if you look really hard! It's all over the image but the brightest sections are at the 3-0-clock, 5-0-clock and 11-0-clock positions, plus some vertical streaks on the left of the image.

Steve Mandel, who has done a lot of work on the subject and named it the IFN has a very interesting web site at www.galaxyimages.com/UNP1.html

where you can read all about the Unexplored Nebulae Project and the Integrated Flux Nebula. In his words the IFN are high-latitude nebulae "high above the plane of the Milky Way, many around the North Galactic Pole and Polaris...reflecting and being ionized by the integrated flux of all the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy". For more information and a fascinating read please visit his website.

NGC 6951 is itself a beautiful galaxy. A Seyfert type SBc, mag. 11.1, surface brightness 13.7.

10" reflector / H9C camera.

Comments

Revisions

  • NGC 6951 - 'Integrated Flux Nebula' in Cepheus., astroeyes
    Original
  • Final
    NGC 6951 - 'Integrated Flux Nebula' in Cepheus., astroeyes
    B
  • NGC 6951 - 'Integrated Flux Nebula' in Cepheus., astroeyes
    C
  • NGC 6951 - 'Integrated Flux Nebula' in Cepheus., astroeyes
    D

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Sky plot

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NGC 6951 - 'Integrated Flux Nebula' in Cepheus., astroeyes