| "The sky is the ultimate art gallery just above us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 82) |
Astrophotography by Jason Jennings |
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| Nebulae :: NGC3372 | |
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| Resolutions Available: 860x825 : 1434x1375 : 2048x1964 | |
| Object | NGC3372 |
| Comment |
A jewel of the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula (aka NGC 3372), spans over 300 light-years and is one of our galaxy's largest star forming regions. Like the smaller, more northerly Great Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is easily visible to the unaided eye, though at a distance of 7,500 light-years it is some 5 times farther away. The presented image displays glowing filaments of interstellar gas and obscuring cosmic dust clouds. The Carina Nebula is home to young, extremely massive stars, including the still enigmatic variable Eta Carinae, a star with well over 100 times the mass of the Sun. Eta Carinae is the brightest star near the image center, just left of the dusty Keyhole Nebula (NGC 3324). While Eta Carinae itself maybe on the verge of a supernova explosion, X-ray images indicate that the Great Carina Nebula has been a veritable supernova factory. Text adapted from APOD. Image is a [Ha+L],[Ha+R]GB,OIII composite with the OIII data layered using a clipping mask. |
| Optics | RCOS 12.5" F/9 (2874mm FL) |
| Camera | Apogee Alta F16M - 1x1 bin (image scale: .65 arcsec/pix) |
| Mount | Software Bisque Paramount ME |
| Exposure | Total exposure time: 29 hours |
| Date | July 2014 |