Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Lynx (Lyn)  ·  Contains:  PK164+31.1
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PK 164+31.1 Headphones Nebula, JohnAdastra
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PK 164+31.1 Headphones Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
PK 164+31.1 Headphones Nebula, JohnAdastra
Powered byPixInsight

PK 164+31.1 Headphones Nebula

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Description

PK 164+31.1, also known as IC 59 and IC 63, is an HII region that spans approximately 20 light-years across. It is located at a distance of about 710 parsecs (2320 light-years) from Earth and has an estimated mass of 400 solar masses. The Headphones Nebula is believed to have been ionized by one or more O-type stars, which have a high effective temperature and emit copious amounts of ionizing radiation. These stars are short-lived and have masses in excess of 16 solar masses. Their intense radiation strips electrons from nearby atoms, ionizing the gas and producing the characteristic red glow observed in the nebula.

This target is fairly strong in Ha and OIII bandwidths and is a nice winter target for astrophotographers in the Northern Hemisphere. Again due to the advances in processing from RC Astro's recent scripts, more details were teased out of this nebula than during prior trials, which showed little more than its basic name-sake shape.

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