Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Norma (Nor)  ·  Contains:  NGC 6164  ·  NGC 6165
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NGC 6164, Jochen Maes
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 6164, Jochen Maes

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Description

NGC 6164 is an emission nebula in the Norma constellation, around 4200 light years from earth.

Upon first glancing at the image, it might appear not too dissimilar from your typical planetary nebula. That's however absolutely not what's going on here.

Both of the structures surrounding the central star were actually ejected from that very star (while it is still very much alive/active). Think of this as a coronal mass ejection that we know from seeing it happen quite frequently on the Sun, but at a much larger scale. The ejected material over time moved further and further away from the star, getting ionized by its energy; causing the spectacle that we're now able to witness.

Image acquisition details:

19x900" Luminance
17x900" Red
12x900" Green
15x900" Blue
28x1800" HA
27x1800" OIII

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NGC 6164, Jochen Maes