HFG 1 & Abell 6
Above image awarded APOD GrAG 'Image of the Day' 17th January 2021
HFG1 was discovered in the Milky Way Emission Line Study in 1982 by Heckathorn, Fesen and Gull. It is defined as a type F planetary nebula by Tweedy and Kitter, meaning that is appears to be uniformly filled.
HFG1 (lower left) was created by the central star V664 Cas. This is not a single star, but a dense binary star system consisting of a white dwarf and a sun-like star, which are only a few million kilometres apart and orbit every 14 hours.
Because the binary system V664 Cas moves very fast (at 29 to 59 kilometres per second) and ploughs through the interstellar medium together with the nebula, a bluish arc shock occurs.
Abell 6 is at upper right. This nebula also is emitting light in the OIII band while it's intensity in the range of hydrogen is low. Abell 6 appears to be circular with a diameter of almost 3 arc minutes. It's edge is partly brightened & terminates sharply. The central star is very faint and can just barely be seen.
HFG1 is an extremely faint object and to capture it from a semi urban (Bortle 4/5) location with a 5" refractor took me all of 40+ hours exposure time. I think it must have taken me just as long to process the data - so although you might not think this the most beautiful of images, I am extremely happy to now have this on my web site.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging cameras: QSI 6120i
Mounts: Takahashi EM 400 Temma 2
Guiding cameras: QHY CCD QHY 5 II
Software: PHD 2, Astro Pixel Processer, PixInsight , Sequence Generator Pro SGP
Filters: Astrodon R,G,B, OIII (5nm) & Ha (5nm)
Accessories: ATIK EFW2
Original Resolution: 4190 x 2786
Dates: Dec. 28 - Jan. 11, 2021
Frames:
Astrodon Ha 5nm: 60x1200"
Astrodon OIII 5nm: 60x1200"
Astrodon RGB: 3x20x120"
Integration: 43 Hours
Center (RA, Dec): (45.397, 64.788)
Center (RA, hms): 03h 01m 35.221s
Center (Dec, dms): +64° 47' 18.123"
Size: 45.9 x 35 arcmin
Radius: 0.481 deg
Pixel scale: 0.986 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: Up is 7.52 degrees E of N
HFG1 (lower left) was created by the central star V664 Cas. This is not a single star, but a dense binary star system consisting of a white dwarf and a sun-like star, which are only a few million kilometres apart and orbit every 14 hours.
Because the binary system V664 Cas moves very fast (at 29 to 59 kilometres per second) and ploughs through the interstellar medium together with the nebula, a bluish arc shock occurs.
Abell 6 is at upper right. This nebula also is emitting light in the OIII band while it's intensity in the range of hydrogen is low. Abell 6 appears to be circular with a diameter of almost 3 arc minutes. It's edge is partly brightened & terminates sharply. The central star is very faint and can just barely be seen.
HFG1 is an extremely faint object and to capture it from a semi urban (Bortle 4/5) location with a 5" refractor took me all of 40+ hours exposure time. I think it must have taken me just as long to process the data - so although you might not think this the most beautiful of images, I am extremely happy to now have this on my web site.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging cameras: QSI 6120i
Mounts: Takahashi EM 400 Temma 2
Guiding cameras: QHY CCD QHY 5 II
Software: PHD 2, Astro Pixel Processer, PixInsight , Sequence Generator Pro SGP
Filters: Astrodon R,G,B, OIII (5nm) & Ha (5nm)
Accessories: ATIK EFW2
Original Resolution: 4190 x 2786
Dates: Dec. 28 - Jan. 11, 2021
Frames:
Astrodon Ha 5nm: 60x1200"
Astrodon OIII 5nm: 60x1200"
Astrodon RGB: 3x20x120"
Integration: 43 Hours
Center (RA, Dec): (45.397, 64.788)
Center (RA, hms): 03h 01m 35.221s
Center (Dec, dms): +64° 47' 18.123"
Size: 45.9 x 35 arcmin
Radius: 0.481 deg
Pixel scale: 0.986 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: Up is 7.52 degrees E of N
Sky Map
Annotated Image
