NGC 1360 (The Robin’s Egg Nebula)

OTA: RCOS (12.5” f/8)

Camera: SBIG STXL11002

Observatory: Heaven’s Mirror, Au

EXPOSURES:

Red: 10 x 1200

Blue: 12 x 1200

Green: 12 x 1200

Hydrogen: 19 x 1800

Oxygen: 16 x 1800

Total exposure 20.6 hours

Image Width: ~1/2 deg

Processed by Alex Woronow (2019) using PixInsight, Skylum, StarTools, SWT

NGC 1360, a planetary nebula, formed when gases were expelled from an exploding star. Typical of planetary nebulae, its ejected gasses radiate strongly in the blue-green of OIII. In addition to the main cloud, small-protruding clouds, knobs, hosting areas of strong HII (red) radiation, occur at either end of the main cloud. They are thought to have arisen from an earlier explosion. Certainly, the nebula exhibits the overall appearance of a cloud within a cloud. The small red HII region to the left of the main cloud appears to follow a ridge or edge in the smaller knob of gas. This association may indicate that it experiences excitation, or even star formation, at a shock front--perhaps the HII in the opposing knob has a similar cause.

The exploded-star remnants at the center of the nebula appear to be a binary star consisting of a white dwarf (which is the star that exploded) and a low-mass O-type star.

Most descriptions of this nebula say it is a ‘virtually featureless blue-green mass’, with a few faint dark streaks. My version, employing AI processing,reveals greater detail than most traditional processing methods can. However, one image by AstrodonImaging (with a CDK 20”) shows still more details, as well it should, and validates the less defining view of the details obtained with my image’s puny 12.5” scope. In any case, the ‘dark markings’ most likely are not markings per se, but regions of sparse gas that offer windows into the darker inside of the expanding bubble.

On a different topic, did you see Flickr’s 25 best photos of 2019? Few of them are ‘photographs,’ most are AI modified photographs...maybe they should be called something along the line of ‘AIPhotos’? Anyway, here is my AIPhoto rendition of NGC 1360--looks best at full size.(It really brings out those HII zones on either side of the main nebula!) The program I used was Topaz Studio 2; and ‘yes,’ but not in the same way, of course.