Tag Archives: Canis Major

Sharpless 2-308 in Canis Major

Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star, this cosmic bubble is huge. Cataloged as Sharpless 2-308 it lies some 5,200 light-years away toward the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major) and covers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon. That corresponds to a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated distance. The massive star that created the bubble, a Wolf-Rayet star, is the bright one near the center of the nebula. Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet star create the bubble-shaped nebula as they sweep up slower moving material from an earlier phase of evolution. The windblown nebula has an age of about 70,000 years.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: Astro-Physics 152mm f/7.5 Starfire EDF
Imaging cameras: FLI ProLine Proline 16803
Mounts: Software Bisque Paramount MX
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FS-60C
Guiding cameras: Starlight Xpress Superstar
Focal reducers: Astro-Physics AP 4.0″ Field Flattener
Software: PixInsight 1.8, FocusMax, Maxim DL Pro 5, Software Bisque TheSky6 Professional, Photoshop CS Photo Shop CS5, CCD Autopilot 5
Filters: Astrodon E-series LRGB Ha 5nm
Accessories: Sirius Dome
Dates: Feb. 21, 2014
Locations: Sydney Australia
Frames: 19×1200″
Integration: 6.3 hours

Author: David Nguyen
AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI 12 Aug 2014

Sharpless 2-308

Sharpless 2-308 it lies some 5,200 light-years away toward the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major) and covers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon. That corresponds to a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated distance. The massive star that created the bubble, a Wolf-Rayet star, is the bright one near the center of the nebula. Wolf-Rayet stars have over 20 times the mass of the Sun.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: Astro-Physics 152mm f/7.5 Starfire EDF
Imaging cameras: FLI ProLine Proline 16803
Mounts: Software Bisque Paramount MX
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FS-60C
Guiding cameras: Starlight Xpress Superstar
Focal reducers: Astro-Physics AP 4.0″ Field Flattener
Software: PixInsight 1.8, Software Bisque TheSky6 Professional, FocusMax, Cyanogen Maxim DL Pro 5, Photoshop CS Photo Shop CS5, CCD Autopilot 5
Filters: Astrodon E-series LRGB Ha 5nm
Accessories: Sirius Dome
Dates: Feb. 21, 2014
Locations: Sydney Australia
Frames: 19×1200″
Integration: 6.3 hours

Author: David Nguyen
AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI
25 April 2014

Seagull Nebula

IC 2177 is a region of nebulosity that lies along the border between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major. It is a roughly circular HII region centered on the Be star HD 53367. This nebula was discovered by Welsh amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts and was described by him as, “pretty bright, extremely large, irregularly round, very diffuse.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: Astro-Physics 152mm f/7.5 Starfire EDF
Imaging cameras: FLI ProLine Proline 16803
Mounts: Software Bisque Paramount MX
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FS-60C
Guiding cameras: Starlight Xpress Superstar
Focal reducers: Astro-Physics AP 4.0″ Field Flattener
Software: PixInsight 1.8, Software Bisque TheSky6 Professional, FocusMax, Cyanogen Maxim DL Pro 5, Photoshop CS Photo Shop CS5, CCD Autopilot 5
Filters: Astrodon E-series LRGB Ha 5nm
Accessories: Sirius Dome
Dates: March 13, 2014
Locations: Sydney Australia
Frames: 27×1200”
Integration: 9.0 hours

Author: David Nguyen

AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI

22 March 2014

NGC 2359: Thor’s Helmet

Image Credit & Copyright: Bob and Janice Fera (Fera Photography)
This helmet-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages is popularly called Thor’s Helmet. Heroically sized even for a Norse god, Thor’s Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the helmet is more like an interstellar bubble, blown as a fast wind from the bright, massive star near the bubble’s center sweeps through a surrounding molecular cloud. Known as a Wolf-Rayet star, the central star is an extremely hot giant thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova stage of evolution. Cataloged as NGC 2359, the nebula is located about 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. The sharp image, made using broadband and narrowband filters, captures striking details of the nebula’s filamentary structures. It shows off a blue-green color from strong emission due to oxygen atoms in the glowing gas.

APOD NASA 15-feb-2014

Sharpless 308 in Canis Major

Sharpless 308 (also known as Sh2-308, S 308 or RCW 11) is a cosmic bubble of nearly 60 light-years across, located some 5,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Canis Major, the Greater Dog. Known as a Wolf-Rayet bubble, it has an age of about 70,000 years and an expansion velocity of about 60 kilometers per second.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: William Optics FLT 132/925
Imaging cameras: Artemis Atik 383L+
Mounts: 10 Micron GM2000 QCI
Guiding telescopes or lenses: William Optics 80 II ed triplet APO
Guiding cameras: M-Gen Guiding Kamera
Focal reducers: Tele Vue 0.8x Focal Reducer
Software: Deep Sky Stacker 3.3.3 Beta 51 DSS DeepSkyStacker, Fitswork4, Adobe Photoshop CS2
Filters: Baader Planetarium 36mm Luminance, Baader Planetarium 36mm Red, Baader Planetarium 36mm Green, Baader Planetarium 36mm Blue
Accessories: Lacerta MGEN2
Dates: Dec. 5, 2013
Locations: Sahara Sky, Marokko
Frames:
Baader Planetarium 36mm Blue: 6×600″ -20C bin 1×1
Baader Planetarium 36mm Green: 5×600″ -20C bin 1×1
Baader Planetarium 36mm Luminance: 8×600″ -20C bin 1×1
Baader Planetarium 36mm Red: 5×600″ -20C bin 1×1
Integration: 4.0 hours
Darks: ~14
Flats: ~27

Autor: Stefan Westphal

AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI

19 January 2014

We select the best works of amateur astrophotographers with details of equipment, shooting processing etc.

The Seagull Nebula

Explanation: Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Miller

A broad expanse of glowing gas and dust presents a bird-like visage to astronomers from planet Earth, suggesting its popular moniker – The Seagull Nebula. This portrait of the cosmic bird covers a 1.6 degree wide swath across the plane of the Milky Way, near the direction of Sirius, alpha star of the constellation Canis Major. Of course, the region includes objects with other catalog designations: notably NGC 2327, a compact, dusty emission region with an embedded massive star that forms the bird’s head (aka the Parrot Nebula, above center). Dominated by the reddish glow of atomic hydrogen, the complex of gas and dust clouds with bright young stars spans over 100 light-years at an estimated 3,800 light-year distance.
NASA APOD 11-Jan-14

Sharpless 308: Star Bubble

Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Husted
Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star, this cosmic bubble is huge. Cataloged as Sharpless 2-308 it lies some 5,200 light-years away toward the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major) and covers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon. That corresponds to a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated distance. The massive star that created the bubble, a Wolf-Rayet star, is the bright one near the center of the nebula. Wolf-Rayet stars have over 20 times the mass of the Sun and are thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova phase of massive star evolution. Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet star create the bubble-shaped nebula as they sweep up slower moving material from an earlier phase of evolution. The windblown nebula has an age of about 70,000 years. Relatively faint emission captured in the expansive image is dominated by the glow of ionized oxygen atoms mapped to violet hues.
NASA APOD 24-dec-13

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