Eagle Nebula in HST & Foraxx palette blend.
Image awarded Photons d´Or - Image of the Month July ´24
The Eagle Nebula (M16) is part of a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region, which is catalogued as IC 4703. This region of active current star formation is about 7000 light-years distant. A spire of gas that can be seen coming off the nebula in the northeastern part is approximately 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometers long.
The cluster associated with the nebula has approximately 8100 stars, which are mostly concentrated in a gap in the molecular cloud to the north-west of the Pillars. The brightest star (HD 168076) has an apparent magnitude of +8.24, easily visible with good binoculars. It is actually a binary star formed of an O3.5V star plus an O7.5V companion. This star has a mass of roughly 80 solar masses, and a luminosity up to 1 million times that of the Sun. The cluster's age has been estimated to be 1–2 million years.
Images taken by Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen using the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 greatly improved scientific understanding of processes inside the nebula. One of these photographs became famous as the "Pillars of Creation", depicting a large region of star formation. The small dark areas in the photograph are believed to be protostars (Bok globules). The pillar structure of the region resembles that of a much larger star formation region in the Soul Nebula of Cassiopeia, imaged with the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2005 and characterized as "Pillars of Star Creation". or "Pillars of Star Formation". These columns – which resemble stalagmites protruding from the floor of a cavern – are composed of interstellar hydrogen gas and dust, which act as incubators for new stars. Inside the columns and on their surface astronomers have found knots or globules of denser gas, called EGGs ("Evaporating Gaseous Globules"). Stars are being formed inside some of these EGGs.
Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging camera: ASI 2600MM
Mount: JTW Trident P75
Guiding telescope: Takahashi FS60CB
Guiding camera: QHY 5 II
Focal Extender / Reducer: None
Software: Sequence Generator Pro SGP (for capture) PHD 2 (guiding), Astro Pixel Processor, PixInsight.
Filters: Astrodon Ha (3nm), SII (3nm) and OIII (3nm)
Accessories: Robofocus Focuser controlled by Lunatico Armadillo, ATIK EFW 3, RB Focus Gaius, RB Focus Excalibur.
Dates: 2nd. - 5th Jun. 2024
Frames: (Total)
Astrodon Ha 24 x 600"
Astrodon SII 24 x 600"
Astrodon OIII 24 x 600"
Total integration = 12 Hours
Center (RA, Dec): (274.919, -14.039)
Center (RA, hms): 18h 19m 40.509s
Center (Dec, dms): -14° 02' 20.304"
Size: 2.02 x 1.35 deg
Radius: 1.215 deg
Pixel scale: 1.2 arcsec/pixel
Up is 256.7 degrees E of N
The cluster associated with the nebula has approximately 8100 stars, which are mostly concentrated in a gap in the molecular cloud to the north-west of the Pillars. The brightest star (HD 168076) has an apparent magnitude of +8.24, easily visible with good binoculars. It is actually a binary star formed of an O3.5V star plus an O7.5V companion. This star has a mass of roughly 80 solar masses, and a luminosity up to 1 million times that of the Sun. The cluster's age has been estimated to be 1–2 million years.
Images taken by Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen using the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 greatly improved scientific understanding of processes inside the nebula. One of these photographs became famous as the "Pillars of Creation", depicting a large region of star formation. The small dark areas in the photograph are believed to be protostars (Bok globules). The pillar structure of the region resembles that of a much larger star formation region in the Soul Nebula of Cassiopeia, imaged with the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2005 and characterized as "Pillars of Star Creation". or "Pillars of Star Formation". These columns – which resemble stalagmites protruding from the floor of a cavern – are composed of interstellar hydrogen gas and dust, which act as incubators for new stars. Inside the columns and on their surface astronomers have found knots or globules of denser gas, called EGGs ("Evaporating Gaseous Globules"). Stars are being formed inside some of these EGGs.
Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging camera: ASI 2600MM
Mount: JTW Trident P75
Guiding telescope: Takahashi FS60CB
Guiding camera: QHY 5 II
Focal Extender / Reducer: None
Software: Sequence Generator Pro SGP (for capture) PHD 2 (guiding), Astro Pixel Processor, PixInsight.
Filters: Astrodon Ha (3nm), SII (3nm) and OIII (3nm)
Accessories: Robofocus Focuser controlled by Lunatico Armadillo, ATIK EFW 3, RB Focus Gaius, RB Focus Excalibur.
Dates: 2nd. - 5th Jun. 2024
Frames: (Total)
Astrodon Ha 24 x 600"
Astrodon SII 24 x 600"
Astrodon OIII 24 x 600"
Total integration = 12 Hours
Center (RA, Dec): (274.919, -14.039)
Center (RA, hms): 18h 19m 40.509s
Center (Dec, dms): -14° 02' 20.304"
Size: 2.02 x 1.35 deg
Radius: 1.215 deg
Pixel scale: 1.2 arcsec/pixel
Up is 256.7 degrees E of N
Sky Atlas and Finding Chart
SII, Ha & OIII in the image:
Annotated Image:
