Messier 17 - The Omega Nebula
Date: June 16, 2020
Cosgrove’s Cosmos Catalog ➤#0033
Messier 17 - The Omega Nebula (click to enlarge)
Table of Contents Show (Click on lines to navigate)
About the Target
M17 is one of those objects that has collected a lot of common names over the years. Most often known as the Omega Nebula, it has also been called the Swan, Horseshoe, and Check-Mark Nebula.
As you look towards the southern sky during summer, you are actually looking to a very bright portion of our own Milky Way Galaxy, and M17 is part of that region. The Omega Nebula is a large region of Hydrogen II Gas located in the constellation Sagittarius. It is between 5000 and 6000 light-years from earth and has a diameter of about 15 light-years.
It is considered one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions in our galaxy. The gas and dust associated with this nebula are estimated to be around 30,000 solar masses. In addition, a bright open cluster of young hot blue stars known as NGC 6618 is embedded in the region, and the light from these stars is what caused the Hydrogen II to emit light, accounting for its strong red coloration.
The Annotated Image
Annotated version of Messier 17 - created with Pixinsight ImageSolve and AnnotateImage scripts.
The Location in the Sky
IAU/Sky & Telescope Constellation Map for Sagittarius - Messier 17 is indicated with the yellow arrow.
About the Project
I had to stay up late for this one, as it rises later in the night at this time of year and even later for me as it has to clear the trees on the east side of my driveway. So I started shooting this at about 1:30 am. Starting just as it emerged from my trees.
More Information
Capture Details
Lights Frames
Taken on the nights of 6-11-20 and 6-15-20
50 x 120 seconds, bin 1x1 @ -15C, Gain UNity
Total of 1.6 hours
Cal Frames
Not recorded
Capture Hardware
Scope: Astrophysics 130mm Starfire F/8.35 APO refractor
Guide Scope: Televue 76mm Doublet
Camera: ZWO AS2600mm-pro with ZWO 7x36 Filter wheel with ZWO LRGB filter set,
and Astronomiks 6nm Narrowband filter set
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI290Mini
Focus Motor: Pegasus Astro Focus Cube 2
Mount: Ioptron CEM60
Polar Alignment: Polemaster camera
Software
Capture Software: PHD2 Guider, Sequence Generator Pro controller
Image Processing: Deepsky Stacker, Pixinsight, Photoshop, Topz AI Denoise - assisted by Coffee, extensive processing indecision and second-guessing, editor regret, and much swearing…..
During August and September I was out shooting every clear night. I had learned a lot of things but I was also noticing several issues that were causing me problems as I did more imaging. I decided to do something to address those issues….