Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  Crescent Nebula  ·  NGC 6888  ·  Sh2-105
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Crescent and Soap Bubble, Arun H
Powered byPixInsight

The Crescent and Soap Bubble

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Crescent and Soap Bubble, Arun H
Powered byPixInsight

The Crescent and Soap Bubble

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

This is an improved version of the Crescent Nebula that I published a couple weeks back. Here I added two additional hours of OIII data to the five hours previously acquired. I also realized that the master dark I used to calibrate the original was not properly constructed. Proper calibration and added OIII data allowed me to process this image much better than I did previously.

H-alpha: 1200s x 15

OIII: 1200s x 15 + 900s x 8

Total integration - 12 hours.

Description: Located in the constellation of Cygnus, or the Swan, the Crescent is an emission nebula energized by the stellar winds from the star that formed it. This star, WR 136, is a so called Wolf-Rayet star. It is a star ~ 21 times as massive as the Sun in an advanced stage of stellar evolution. At some point in the past, a few hundred thousand years ago, it became a red giant and ejected a significant amount of mass. It is currently burning helium and other heavy elements at its core. The faster stellar wind it now emits collides with the slower moving material ejected when it became a red giant. The result is a shell and two shock waves that move in opposite directions.

In this narrow band image, you can see an inner shell comprised mainly of hydrogen (mapped to red). The outer, fainter shell is teal in color and is rich in oxygen. To the top right is a very faint object known as the Soap Bubble Nebula.

Comments