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M16 - Eagle Nebula

Junio 10 - July 21, 2022

Alovera-2
- Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED Super APO Triplet (550mm/f5.5)
- Moravian C3-61000 
Frames:
Baader Ha: 12×300″(1h) (gain: 2800) -10°C bin 1×1
Baader Oiii: 12×300″(1h) (gain: 2800) -10°C bin 1×1
Baader Sii: 12×300″(1h) (gain: 2800) -10°C bin 1×1
Total integration time: 3h
A.R. (centre): 18h18m51s.6
Dec. (centre): -13°50′20″
Pixel scale: 1,41 seg.arc/pixel
Resolution: 4396 x 3072

The image corresponds to the famous M16, nicknamed the Eagle Nebula and located 7,000 light years away, in the Snake constellation. It is formed by a central star cluster (NGC 6611) and a surrounding emission nebula (IC 4703). The large star cluster at the heart of the Eagle is estimated to contain approximately 8,000 stars and is responsible of ionizing the surrounding gas clouds. The darker areas of dense gas are believed to be places where new stars are forming. Two of these areas are the “Pillars of Creation”, in the center of the image, and the “Star Spire” above and to the left of the pillars. The image of the Pillars of Creation became famous thanks to one of the most iconic images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 Hubble Goes High-Definition to Revisit Iconic 'Pillars of Creation' - NASA Science and more recently by the James Webb (JWST) in 2022 Pillars of Creation (NIRCam Image). These areas of gas are being eroded by light from nearby stars that have recently formed. The small dark areas in the image are believed to be protostars containing cosmic dust and dense gas from which star formation can take place. The Star Spire measures about 10 light years tall, with numerous cloud shapes sculpted into its head.

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