SLD
Contributor
The Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888, and surrounding nebulosity.
the star in the center of the Nebula is a Wolf Rayet type star, a massive star that has no hydrogen. the hydrogen layer was blown off thousands of years ago, and that layer is now the nebula. the star will eventually blow up as a Supernova, maybe tomorrow, maybe 100,000 years from now. it might first blow off its helium layer. Wolf Rayet stars are really cool. They can be over 200,000 Kelvin, and a million times as bright as our sun. Some of the most massive stars in the galaxy are Wolf Rayet type. This one though is a mere 21 times as massive.
Taken with a William Optics GT71, and a ZWO 2600MC. Mount was an iOptron ieq45, with an orion guidescope and guide camera. 39 5 minute shots, for a total of 3 hours and 15 minutes of data. 30 flats and 30 darks. Stacked in DSS, and processed in Pixinsight. Note the corners though. My backfocus is off.
the star in the center of the Nebula is a Wolf Rayet type star, a massive star that has no hydrogen. the hydrogen layer was blown off thousands of years ago, and that layer is now the nebula. the star will eventually blow up as a Supernova, maybe tomorrow, maybe 100,000 years from now. it might first blow off its helium layer. Wolf Rayet stars are really cool. They can be over 200,000 Kelvin, and a million times as bright as our sun. Some of the most massive stars in the galaxy are Wolf Rayet type. This one though is a mere 21 times as massive.
Taken with a William Optics GT71, and a ZWO 2600MC. Mount was an iOptron ieq45, with an orion guidescope and guide camera. 39 5 minute shots, for a total of 3 hours and 15 minutes of data. 30 flats and 30 darks. Stacked in DSS, and processed in Pixinsight. Note the corners though. My backfocus is off.
I recall how blown away I was as a kid when I first saw Saturn in a telescope.