A close look at NGC6188/NGC6193 in Ara (9hrs 25mins)

[SkyViking]

Hi All,

With my new larger chip I am finally able to give some of the beautiful extended nebulae some justice, so here is my take on NGC 6188 and NGC 6193 in Ara. This is 9 hrs and 25 mins of LRGB, which also highlights just how bright the massive giant stars at the centre of NGC 6193 are.

Main image is here: http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/image/144166552/original
Link to full resolution image (3MB): http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/image/144166554/original
I couldn't decide how to best present this wonderful piece of sky so I also created a gallery with a couple of different views here: http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/ngc6188

Image details:
Date: 12th, 13th and 14th June 2012
Exposure: LRGB 250:105:105:105m, total 9hrs 25mins @ -30C
Telescope: 10" Serrurier Truss Newtonian
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2
Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand

About the image:
NGC 6188 is a large emission nebula located some 4000 light years distant in the Southern constellation Ara. This giant molecular cloud is being illuminated by the young star cluster NGC 6193 which in this image appears in the centre almost as if suspended in front of a blanket of nebulousity littered with thousands of other dimmer stars in a multitude of colours.
At the centre of this cluster lies an intensely bright pair of stars; the O-type giants HD 150135 and HD 150136. The latter is in fact itself an extremely close binary with a confirmed third component in an outer eccentric orbit of between 2950 and 5500 days. This triple star system is one of the most massive in our galaxy with the three components containing 64, 40 and 35 solar masses respectively. The cluster is very young, not older than 3 million years, and the intense radiation from the massive stars is slowly eroding the surrounding gas and dust away, sculpting it into the striking forms seen in this image. Within these clouds new stars are currently being born and in places some have already begun to light up the nebula from within.

I have attached down-sampled versions here, but for the best view I recommend the high res versions via the links above.

Hope you enjoy it. Comments and critique is welcome as always.

Regards,
Rolf

[Ross G]

A great photo Rolf.

Amazing detail and colours.

Ross.

[multiweb]

That's a terrific close-up of the area Rolf. Pinpoint stars, great colors and so many of them . Top shelf. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[RickS]

Looks very 3D Rolf. Great star colours too.

[omegacrux]

Good pic shame not many people looking at it
Thanks Rolf

David

[SkyViking]

Thanks very much Ross :)


Thanks a lot Marc, I was surprised by the amount of stars in the area, and of all colours too. It's a great nebula for sure.


Thank you Rick :) Yeah one kind of gets the sense that the cluster is sitting in the middle of this big empty bubble, which it probably is.


Thank you David - must have gone under the radar lol :)

[Lester]

Amazing view Rolf, the over 9 hours of exposure has really produced a eye catching image. All the best.

[TrevorW]

Nice one Rolf

[Stevec35]

Nicely captured and processed Rolf.

Cheers

Steve

[Paul Haese]

Lovely work Rolf. I really like the saturation and the colours are really cool.

[Octane]

Superb work, Rolf.

I'm so happy to see you devoting multiple nights to the one object.

H

[SkyViking]

Thanks very much Lester, I tried to go deep on this one and I think it paid off :)


Thank you Trevor, glad you liked it :)


Thanks Steve, the processing was a bit of a challenge with so many stars but it came through in the end :)


Thank you Paul, I did work a lot on finding the right balance here so am glad you enjoyed it.


Thanks very much H, glad you liked it :) I tend to work on images in parallel, collecting a few hours on each subject every night while they pass through my view (I'm blocked towards the west), so I have a whole pipeline going :D

[cometcatcher]

Part work of art, part work of science, all part beautiful.

[strongmanmike]

Yes, a fabulous view that Rolf, has a real sparkel about it, love it :thumbsup:

Mike

[SkyViking]

Thanks very much Kevin, glad you liked it :)


Thanks a lot Mike, I appreciate it :) I think this turned out rather well and my setup is flying now so it's good fun!

[pixelsaurus]

Bonza beaut Rolf. Purty colours.

[SkyViking]

Thank you Mike, glad you liked it. I got quite a lot of RGB data for this one so I think that helped.

[gregbradley]

Very nice Rolf.

Nice and bright and lots of depth to it.

Greg.