The Firebird

The emission nebula NGC6188 appears like a firebird in this image, swooping down with wings outstretched upon its reflection in the depths below. Located 4,000 lightyears away in the constellation Ara, this nebula is swept by the winds of nearby massive stars that power the nebula’s glow with their intense radiation. This nebula is also popularly known as the fighting dragons (when the image is oriented on its side). Towards the right edge of this image is what appears to be a planetary nebula, but NGC6164 is an emission nebula as well, being powered by the star HD148937.

Somewhat drowned out a bit with the surrounding bright starfield, I would’ve like to have added some narrowband Ha data to this image to make the nebula stand out more, but alas it appears that my auto-guider is failing and I lost over an hour’s worth of sub-frames towards the end of the session.

| IMG_0377 | 2019-06-03 to 2019-06-04 | Chittering, Western Australia | EOS6D modified | Canon EOS6D modified | Skywatcher Esprit 120ED Refractor | UV/IR cut-filter | ISO800 | 2 x panels | each panel 5x15s, 5x30s, 5x60s, 5x120s, 17-28x300s | Skywatcher Synguider | NEQ6 Mount |