Firebird Nebula: 4000 light years away in the constellation of Ara lies this tremendous star generating area NGC 6188. Very hot young stars (part of the Ara OB1 association) excite the sourrounding gas to glow and compress it. Part of their radiation is also reflected from cold dust with bluish tint. The dramatic dark dust lanes are proof of previous star generations which long ago exploded in Supernovae and left their elements spread out in space.
At the upper edge is the bipolar nebula NGC 6164, where the central star expells matter which generates the torus like structure. Further out one can recognize an earlier shock front expelled by the star.
NGC 6188 to my eyes looks like a huge firebird flying with spread-out wings from the left to the right, so it should be called Firebird Nebula.
Object |
Firebird Nebula |
|---|---|
Catagory |
Nebulae |
Designation |
NGC 6188 |
Constellation |
Ara |
Optics |
Takahashi FSQ 106 ED f/5 x 0.73 Reducer |
Camera |
SBIG STL 11000M with internal filter wheel |
Exposure |
6x20min H-alpha, 9x20min O[III], 6x5min each RGB, Baader filterset. Maxim DL for image acquisition |
Calibration |
Dark- and Flatfield |
|---|---|
Guiding |
StarlightXpress Lodestar and Skywatcher ED 80 as Guidescope, Maxim DL as Guiding Software |
Mount |
Astro-Physics 900 GTO |
Processing |
Maxim DL5, Registar, Photoshop. Color Code L:H-alpha,R:R/H-alpha,G:G/[OIII],B. |
Location, Date |
Somerset West, South Africa - 23 Apr 2011, 24 Mar 2012 |
Remark |