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Dates and Location September 26 & 27th 2008. SMAP site at Weed, New Mexico. Elevation 7269 ft. Lat 32.8°N Long 195.5W   Catalogue Identity The Bubble nebula. NGC 7635
SH2-162
Equipment Used AstroTech RC400 at 3304 mm focal length.
Paramount ME German Equatorial Mount.
Camera SBIG ST-11000M.SBIG FW-8L Filter Wheel.
TheSky V6 Telescope control
MaxIm DL V4.53 Camera control.

  

Where it is in space

In the constellation of Cassiopeia within our Milky Way Galaxy. Distance about 11,000 light years. The Bubble nebula itself is about 6 light years across.
In this image South is top centre. Co-ordinates RA: 23h 21m 11s, DEC: +61° 15m 46s J(Now). Apparent size approx 5 arcmins.
Acquisition Remote session using RADMIN PC control from Ravenshead, UK.
10 min sub-exposures, LRGB filters. 60 min Lum, 40 min each for RGB.
   What it is The Bubble Nebula is being pushed out by the stellar wind of a massive central star.
Below and to the upper left is a giant molecular cloud not fully exposed in this image.
The radiation from this hot star heats up dense regions of the molecular cloud causing it to glow. The Bubble Nebula itself is part of a much larger complex of stars and gas.

Processing Methods

All image calibration and reduction done in CCDStack. Master Luminence deconvolved in CCDStack.
RGB data combined and background normalised in CDStack.
Final stretching and composition in PhotoShop CS2.		  
  Alternative View A crop of the main image showing the nebulosity is here:  Rotated and Cropped Image Centre

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