M 42 (Orion Nebula) Emission Nebulae

M 42 (Orion Nebula)

M 42
M 42

This is the brightest part of the huge nebula complex in Orion. It is a star nursery and young stars illuminate remaining gas and dust in that region which is pretty close to our solar system: only about 1350 light years away.

This image was taken from my location above the city lights of Winterthur without any filter. And it was the first picture I gave a try with PixInsight … and the result was amazing. Stars were so bright that I reduced the exposure time down to 60 seconds in order to avoid pixel saturation.

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SH 2-274 (Medusa Nebula) Planetary Nebulae

SH 2-274 (Medusa Nebula)

SH 2-274
SH 2-274

A Planetary Nebula in constellation Gemini about 1500 light years from earth. At first it was thought to be a Supernova remnant, but more recent measurements of the expansion velocity suggest it to be more likely a Planetary Nebula. These are the outer shells of a sun-like star which have been expelled at the end of the active live of the star.

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M 3 Globular Clusters

M 3

M 3
M 3

M3 is a Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici about 34000 light years from our solar system. As all Globular Clusters it is pretty old (11.4 billion years).

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NGC 2246 (Rosetta Nebula) Emission Nebulae

NGC 2246 (Rosetta Nebula)

NGC 2246
NGC 2246

NCG 2246 (Caldwell 439) is a star forming region in Monoceros about 5000 light years distant. The young star cluster NGC 2244 (Caldwell 50) in the center of this region has been formed from material of this cloud and is pushing the remaining material towards the outside. The nebula will disappear in some million years while still creating new stars …

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Barnard 33 (Horsehead Nebula) Dark Nebulae

Barnard 33 (Horsehead Nebula)

Barnard 33 (Horsehead Nebula)
Barnard 33 (Horsehead Nebula)

Dark Cloud in Orion in front of read emission nebula IC 434. Left to bright star Alnitak the so called Flame Nebula or NGC 2024.

This image shows originally very bright halos around bright stars caused by the IDAS NBX filter, which was very bad to this respect. Meanwhile IDAS has released NBZ as a better replacement … and it is really better.

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