NGC 4755 (Summer 2018)

NGC 4755, sometimes called the Jewel Box Cluster, lies about 6,400 light years away and is visible in our constellation Crux.  Well, it is visible if you can see Crux, which I cannot much from Houston, as Crux sits nearly at the horizon when at its northernmost.

The golden star near the middle is DU Crucis, an M2 supergiant. Many of the other stars, including the three, brightest blue stars, are type B supergiants.

North is up. The cluster is supposed to be quite young, less than 20 million years old, and perhaps much less than that.

This image is RGB 4,4,4x300" with the 12.5" RCOS from MPAstro in New South Wales.  Someday I'd like to see this beautiful cluster with my own eyes.

NGC 6334 (Spring & Summer 2018)

These clumps of nebulosity are called NGC 6334 and remind some of a cat's pawprint.  This area, which appears in Scorpius, is too far south for me to capture well with the camera.

Notice that the cloud seems to be blowing every which way; it's hard to see what exactly is powering the emission. Recent studies, especially this one, show that the area is packed with O- and B-type stars that could cause the emission. Also, the region is bursting with new star formation.  It's a very exciting place.

This image is 14x1800" Ha and 16:16:16x1200" RGB with the 12.5" RCOS from MPAstro in New South Wales. The Ha was combined with the RGB.  In this area, the H-alpha emission is overwhelming compared to the blue and green, though there is some blue and green there, perhaps some reflection as well as OIII glow.

NGC 3324 and Nebula (Spring & Summer 2018)

Cluster NGC 3324 sits just northwest of Eta Carinae, from our perspective. Astronomers have wondered whether it is part of the Eta Carina nebular complex or not, because it sits so close by, but studies suggest the cluster and the Eta Carina complex are part of the same. The cluster of stars that is NGC 3324, just above center of the nebula here, contains three O-type stars known as HD 92206 B, A, and C (from left to right). 92206 A and B are type O6.5 V.  92206 C appears to be O7.5 V with a close binary companion of type BO V. These stars light up the emission nebula, hollowing out a bubble with their strong stellar winds and UV radiation. A, B, and C are each X-ray sources. Source. This study found about 500 stellar X-ray sources in the area, about 150 of which are probably young stars belonging to NGC 3324 and to another local cluster. These clusters probably comprise several hundred stars each. Only a few show up in the image above, however.

Data for this image comes from Martin Pugh's observatory, and is SHO = 10, 14, 10 x 1800" with the RCOS 12.5" telescope.

IC 5070, The Pelican's Eye (August 2018)

This image is 12x1800" with the SXVF-H9 through the Synta-ONTC8 and a 6nm Astronomik H-alpha filter.  Of course, this is the most interesting portion of the Pelican Nebula.  Those of you who know where to look can find a number of Herbig-Haro objects in this image.  Here is a good identification page from a very similar (but even deeper) image: https://www.astrobin.com/252817/ .

NGC 6910 in H-alpha (August 2018)

This image was taken with an H-alpha filter to capture the background clouds, but the subject of the image is NGC 6910, the cluster of stars in the middle.  Sometimes it is called the Rockinghorse Cluster, and it does suggest that shape when viewed from the top right corner of the image (that is, from the northwest).

This image is 9x1200" with the SXVF-H9 through the Synta-ONTC8 at f/4.95 and an Astronomik 6nm H-alpha filter.

IC 5146, the Cocoon Nebula (August 2018)

This target in the constellation Cygnus carries emission signal, but it not strong.  What you see here is the H-alpha emission.  In full spectrum images, though, much of the nebular glow is reflection.  The bright star in the middle is a young, B-type star that powers the nebula.  It is surrounded by young stars forming from the disrupted dust and gas in this region.

This image is 9x1800" with the SXVF-H9 through the Synta-ONTC8 f/4.95 reflector.