NGC 3576 and NGC 3603 Nebulae

clic for 40% size 1529 x 1064 (717 kB)


About this Image

These rarely imaged nebulae are situated between the Southern Cross and Eta-Carinae. Both nebulea are very active starforming regions and emit strongly in the light of ionized hydrogen (H-Alpha). They are 7.000 and 14.000 light years away respectively. NGC 3576 with its characteristic loops formed by stellar winds also contains a number of prominent Bok Globules, dark dense stellar nurseries. NGC 3603 (left) may well be the largest nebula in our galaxy and features concentrations of young, hot and massive Wolf-Rayet stars, much like at the center of the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070).
North is up.

Below you find a crop on the center in 50/100%.

At bottom you find a pure Ha image of the center in 50/100%.

clic for 100% size 1228 x 906 (343 kB)

clic for 100% size 1228 x 906 (259 kB)


Technical Details
Optics

105mm TMB refractor with flattener at f/6.5

Mount AP-400 GEM
Camera SBIG STL-11000M at -20C, internal filter wheel
Filters Astronomik H-alpha (15 nm) + RGB
Date Aug 09, 2004.
Location Hakos/Namibia
Sky Conditions mag 6.5, high transparency, temperature 14 C,
Exposure Ha = 30 minutes (10-minute sub-exposures),
RGB= 10:10:10 min (5-minute sub-exposures)
all 1x1.
Processing Image aquisition in Maxim DL 4.0; Image calibration, aligning, mean stacking, DDP and color synthesis in ImagesPlus;
Photoshop: H-alpha blended to red and L channel; cropped, Noise reduction by Neatimage;