The Firebird

High in the constellation of Ara, a striking nebula resembles a bird of prey, swooping down to strike some unseen quarry. Its wings are swept back, and the rippling red of its fiery "feathers" glows intensely against the eternal night.

A favourite target of astrophotographers, NGC6188 is commonly shown as a pair of dragons fighting. However, I've gone with a different framing, rotating the view 90 degrees revealing the "Firebird". As such, I've kept the red coloured Halpha component strong and made the blue coloured OIII more subtle to emphasise the "fiery" aspect of the subject.

This image was taken through an Askar FRA400 using a ASI2600MC camera, and includes 18 hours of integration over three nights.

| 2025-05-27 | Perth and Regan's Ford, Western Australia | ASI2600MC | Askar FRA400 | f/5.6 | Duo-NB and UV/IR cut filter | Skywatcher HEQ5 mount | AsiAir Plus | 1 x panel | Gain 100 | RGB 5x30s, 5x60s, 29x300s | Ha+OIII 92x600s |