This frames a region along the Milky Way on the borders of: northern Canis Major, southern Monoceros, and northern Puppis. It is rich in nebulas and,
This frames a region along the Milky Way on the borders of: northern Canis Major, southern Monoceros, and northern Puppis. It is rich in nebulas and, in particular, open star clusters. The field is 10º tall by 15º wide, so roughly twice the width of a binocular field of view. The main nebula at upper right is the star formation region called the Seagull Nebula, aka IC 2177, and with the round nebulas Gum 1 (above) and Gum 3 (below). The green nebula below centre is NGC 2359, known as Thor's Helmet or the Duck Nebula. It is a bubble of gas blown out by a hot and massive Wolf-Rayet star. At left are the pair of contrasting clusters in Puppis: rich Messier 46 on the left and looser M47 on the right, with the fainter NGC 2423 above the latter. The cluster above the Seagull is M50 in Monoceros. The cluster below the Seagull is NGC 2345. The cluster below Thor's Helmet is NGC 2360. The clusters above M46/M47 left of centre are Mel 71 (bottom in Puppis) and the smaller Mel 72 (above in Monoceros). This is a stack of 12 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon RF135mm lens at f/2 and red-sensitive Canon Ra at ISO 800. Tracked but not guided on the Astro-Physics AP400 mount. The lens had an 82mm URTH Night broadband filter on it to help increase contrast. Shot from the Warrumbungles Mountain Motel near Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia in March 2024 on a night I devoted to shooting 135mm fields all along the southern Milky Way.
Size: 6720px × 4480px
Photo credit: © Alan Dyer / VWPics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1, 3, 2177, 2345, 2353, 2359, 2360, 2423, ap400, astronomy, astrophotographer, astrophotography, australia, beauty, bodies, canis, canon, celestial, cluster, clusters, constellations, cosmic, dark, deep, duck, equipment, exploration, exposure, filter, galaxy, gear, gum, helmet, interstellar, kq, long, lunar, m46, m47, m50, major, mel71, mel72, messier, milky, monoceros, moon, nebula, ngc, night, nightscape, open, phenomena, photography, planetary, puppis, ra, rcw2, rf135mm, seagull, settings, sky, skywatching, space, star, stargazing, starry, stars, techniques, telescope, thors, tips, trails, universe, urth, warrumbungles
