Stars – Page 7 – Semper Iuvenis Photography

NGC 2146 – Dusty Hand Galaxy

A bright moon and gusty winds didn’t deter the creation of this image. Poor seeing, operator error, and clouds for a couple of hours also didn’t stop it. This is most likely my last image of 2024. The forecast for clear nights after the full moon passes doesn’t look promising.

I present my version of the “Dusty Hand Galaxy.” Also known as NGC 2146, it is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is unique due to the dusty spiral arm that is looping the core from our perspective. Potentially the result of a galaxy merge at its end stage. A result is intense star formation, to such an extent that NGC 2146 is referred to as a starburst galaxy. This is a common state for barred spirals. However, the extra gravitational disruption that NGC 2146 is enduring no doubt exacerbates the situation. This compression of hydrogen-rich nebulas triggers stellar birth.

Image acquisition via Astro Photography Tool (APT), processing with Pixinsight. RC8 telescope, ASI071MC camera, & Eq6r Pro mount.

Sh2-207 Faint Hii in Perseus

I choose to image this pair of Nebula while perusing images of the Sharpless Catalog online. I didn’t realize how faint and small they are at the time. This image integrates 7 hours of exposure. It uses a GSO RC8 at 1627mm fl and a ZWO ASI071MC camera atop a Skywatcher EQ6r Pro mount. All are controlled and integrated by APT, Astro Photography Tool.

Sharpless 2-207 is a star-forming region, similar to a miniature version of the Rosette Nebula. Despite its appearance, this is an HII region ionised by an O9.5 IV star and not a planetary nebula. The star cluster in the western part of the nebula is about 2-3 million years old. Its kinetic distance is about 4 kpc. The smaller H-II region Sharpless 2-208 is at about the same distance.

The nebulae Sh 2-207 and Sh 2-208 are located on the border of the constellation Camelopardalis to Perseus. The best viewing time is September to March, when the circumpolar constellation is at its highest. These are very dim and require long exposure and adequate focal length. They are surrounded by the Perseus hydrogen cloud but that would require much more integration time to bring out. Perhaps another year.

There’s not much else to say about a couple of balls of ionized hydrogen in space.

Sh2-188 Shrimp Nebula

Although it was included in the Sharpless Catalogue of Hii regions, it is actually a very dim planetary nebula. It is located at a distance of 711 light years from the Solar System in the constellation, Cassiopeia. Based upon its expansion rate it is thought to be about 7500 years old.

Planetary nebulae are formed when a star dies of “old age” and expels ionized shells of gas. The nebula is nearly circular in shape. It is much brighter to the southeast (lower right) because the central star is moving rapidly in that direction. Faint wisps of gas can also be seen in the opposite direction.

Planetary nebulae are usually symmetrical in shape, but that isn’t the case of Sh2-188. The Shrimp Nebula is believed to travel through space at an incredible rate. It moves about 300,000 miles per hour. It is also going through layers of the interstellar medium. This impacts the shape of the nebula and makes it asymmetrical. The bright part of the nebula is the bow shock. It occurs as a fast-moving planetary nebula interacts with the interstellar medium.

The Shrimp Nebula is not bright enough to be seen with the naked eye or binoculars. Its small size doesn’t help either. It is also very difficult to see with a telescope. This is particularly true if you are not observing from a very dark site far from light pollution. For imaging, a long focal length telescope on an equatorial mount is very helpful. And then a lot of exposure is required to bring out this dim PN.

APT is controlling the imaging sessions. This image represents about 20 hours of exposure. It uses a GSO RC8 at 1625mm fl and a ZWO ASI071MC camera. The setup is atop a Skywatcher EQ6r Pro mount. The Antlia quad-band light pollution filter was used in my bortle 4 sky.

Sh2-155 The Cave Nebula

Sh 2-155 (also designated Caldwell 9) lies in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. It is a diffuse nebula in the constellation Cepheus. It resides within a larger nebula complex containing emission, reflection, and dark nebulosity. It is widely known as the Cave Nebula. Sh 2-155 is an ionized H II region. There is ongoing star formation activity. It is at an estimated distance of 2400 light-years from Earth.

Patrick Moore coined the name “Cave Nebula” for this object. The name was presumably derived from photographic images showing a curved arc of emission nebulosity. This arc corresponds to a cave mouth. The “Caldwell Cave” is a bright H II emission nebula. It curves around in an arc and resembles the mouth of a cave. The nebula is part of a much larger Cepheus B molecular cloud. It contains hot, young stars that illuminate and ionize hydrogen gas.

This image is presented in the HOO “hubble palette”.

NGC 1579 – Northern Trifid

NGC 1579 (also known as the Northern Trifid) is a diffuse nebula located in the constellation of Perseus. It is referred to as the Northern Trifid because it resembles the Trifid Nebula. The Trifid Nebula is located in the southern celestial hemisphere of our sky. It is a H II region, a region of star formation. It is smaller and further away than its namesake, lying 2,100 light years away in the constellation Perseus. It is about 3 light years across and contains both reddish and blue components. The blue is reflection nebula, where dust behind the stars reflects starlight. The red in this case is not from the usual emission of hydrogen.

The star cluster contains the emission-line star LkHα 101, which provides much of the ionizing radiation in the nebula. This massive young star emits light strongly in hydrogen alpha. Dust within the core of the nebula dims and reddens this light. Additional dust and soot is evident above and below the nebula in large areas that contain few stars.

NGC 1579 lies within a giant molecular cloud known as the California Molecular Cloud.

Image acquisition, focusing, guiding and mount control with APT, Astro-Photography Tool. Light calibration, integration, and image processing performed manually in PixInsight. Skywatcher Esprit 120ED at f/7 and ZWO 2600MC Pro with a Radian Ultra Quad-Band narrowband filter at 4nm. 164 5 minute exposures for a total of 13.6 hours of exposure.

M 74 – Phantom Galaxy

Messier 74, The Phantom Galaxy, is a large spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation Pisces. It is about 32 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy contains two clearly defined spiral arms. Therefore, it is used as an archetypal example of a grand design spiral galaxy. It is estimated that there are 100 billion stars in M 74.

The galaxy’s low surface brightness makes it the most difficult Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe. This difficulty gives rise to its nickname, Phantom. M74 has two spiral arms that wind counterclockwise from the galaxy’s center. The spiral arms widen as they get farther from M74’s center, but one of the arms narrows at the end.

This image was taken over two nights, on November 29th and December 3rd, 2024. I used a GSO RC8 telescope at 1625mm. An ASI071MC Pro camera was aboard a Skywatcher EQ6r Pro Mount. Acquisition session management by APT, image processing using Pixinsight.

Sh2-135 Hii in Cepheus

Sh2-135 is an H II emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus without a common name.

It is located about 10,000 light-years away in the southern part of the constellation. The most suitable period for its observation in the evening sky falls between July and December. Observatories in Earth’s northern hemisphere find it especially easy. There, it is circumpolar up to warm temperate regions.

I captured this image using APT for session management. It controlled a Skywatcher EQ6r Pro mount. I used a Skywatcher Esprit 120ed telescope at 860mm FL. The camera was an ASI2600MC Pro astro camera. I had an assortment of goodies as well.

Sh2-135 is the bright circular shaped object on the left side of the image. A ball of Hydrogen gas ionized by newly formed stars. The bottom center gas clouds are cataloged as LBN 486 in Lynd’s Bright Nebula catalog (LBN). The bright irregular nebula on the right is a combination of several entries, LBN 489, LBN 490, and LBN 491.

Sh2-115 Cottonball in Cygnus

SH2-115 is a large emission nebula in the northern regions of the constellation Cygnus. It is about 2° northwest of the bright star Deneb. Located about 7,500 light-years away, this extensive HII region is broken into two basic parts. Sh2-115 encompasses LBN 357 and LBN 358 (the white fluffy ball on the right side). Sh2-116 includes planetary nebula PK085+04.1 and LBN 352 to the left.

I knew very little about this large target but recent images I have seen suggested a dynamic and interesting structure. That’s one of its attractions for me. I have slowly been targeting objects from the Sharpless Catalog of HII regions. There are 456 objects in this catalog. I have found that many of them are relatively unknown by the broader amateur astronomy community. Most are rich with complex regions that are photographically interesting to explore.

I imaged this target on four moonlit nights in October 2024. The sessions ran from dark until 01:20. At that time, the target dips low in the sky as Cygnus fades from my view. I captured 297 subframes at 240 sec each = 19.8 hours of exposure. Session management for my rig is performed by Astro Photography Tool (APT – 4.57). This image was captured with my Skywatcher Esprit 120ED telescope at 860mm FL, and the ASI2600MC Pro camera.

Image processing followed my standard PixInsight HOO workflow for osc captures using my radian ultra quad-band narrowband filter.

I do hope you enjoy it too!!

Sh2-261 – Lower’s Nebula

Lower’s nebula (Sh2-261) is found on the outermost edge of our Milky Way between the Orion and Perseus arm. Sh2-261 is a large faint region of predominantly ionized hydrogen. The nebula is named after Harold and Charles Lower who discovered this nebula in 1939.

I took 300 4 minute exposures over the course of 5 nights in October 2024. I used APT, Astro Photography Tool, from my driveway here in the hills of western North Carolina.

As a predominantly ionized hydrogen (Hii) gas cloud, Lower’s Nebula takes on a distinct reddish hue in long exposure astrophotography. I applied an HOO color map to the final image to help highlight structures and dark nebula within.

Sh 2-185 Ghost of Cassiopeia

Sh2-185 is a H II region. It is centered on the massive star system Gamma Cassiopeiae (y Cas). This star system is in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. Sh2-185 is located at a distance of approx. 10,500 Ly from the sun. The region is encapsulated in a giant hydrogen dust shell.

This H II region includes the reflection and emission nebulae IC 59 and IC 63. Both nebulae have a cometary shape, with IC 63 being the brighter of the two. The difference in appearance between the two nebulae is a consequence of their physical distance from γ Cas. IC 63 displays a well-defined ionization front, while this is lacking in IC 59. IC 63 is sometimes dubbed the Ghost Nebula, or the Ghost of Cassiopeia.

I framed this image so y Cas would not be in the frame as it is massively bright. It is located just outside the top of the frame. The direction of the massive energy is apparent in the distribution of the dust. I wanted to focus on the nebulae and the dust surrounding them.