SH 2-1 Fang's Heart.

[joshman]

This little area at the right hand of Scorpius has piqued my interest in the past, but never enough to dedicate enough time to image it properly.


Not until I saw Gilmour Dickson's recent rendition (https://www.astrobin.com/tvq8gg/D/) did I realise what this little area had to offer.


So here I offer up my interpretation of this little region. I really enjoy the fact that Fang is the proper name for the central star (π Scorpii (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Scorpii)). Fang gets is name from a Chinese asterism known as "the Room", with Fang's full name meaning "the first star of room." While this might look like a single star, Fang is actually a triple star system.


In this orientation and framing, the diffuse and vibrant Hydrogen Alpha cloud resembles a heart, gently resting amongst the clouds.


Go here to see it on Astrobin (https://www.astrobin.com/c775v1/)

[strongmanmike]

A really lovely image Josh, nice composition, I like the contrasting blue and red too and the dust is nice and fluffy/dusty, with a blue hue, nice and 3D too, excellent :thumbsup:

Mike

[AstroJason]

Great shot Josh, love those colours, that red is so rich and like Mike said, the blue contrasts nicely with it. Nice work!

[Startrek]

Josh,
Lovely image and nicely processed
Colours are superb
That rig of yours captures excellent data but obviously you have to work for it , 20 hours is some serious sky time.

Well done indeed

Martin

[Retrograde]

Very nice, Josh.

Great contrasting colours and well presented. :thumbsup:

[joshman]

Thanks Mike! I really like the interaction of the Red Ha with the blue of the reflection nebula down the bottom.


Thanks Jason!


Thanks Martin! 20Hrs is about right for my skies and equipment. I can sometime get away with less, and sometimes I have to, especially considering the weather at the moment.


Thanks Pete! I wasn't expecting the contrasting Red and Blue to look so good!