Nebulosity around NGC 6231

clic for 30% size 1195 x 794 (553 kB)

clic here for 50% size 1991 x 1324 (1100 kB)


About this Image

The area around the open cluster NGC6231 is embedded in huge emission nebulae, right from the center is IC 4628, a beautiful, arc-like rim of nebulosity. The image is centered on the tail of Scorpius (from Zeta- to Mu-Scorpii). The nebulae are quite faint and often have been overlooked because of it, even by southern observers.
A closeup at IC 4628 can be seen here.
The distance to these nebulae is approx. 5000 light years. North is right.

Below you find a crop on the cometary globule NGC 5367 in 70% size. It is shaped by the stellar wind from the open cluster NGC6231 (top left)


Technical Details
Optics

Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L at f/2.8

Mount AP-400 GEM
Camera SBIG STL-11000M at -20C, internal filter wheel
Filters Astronomik H-alpha (15 nm) + RGB
Date Aug 15, 2004.
Location Hakos/Namibia
Sky Conditions mag 6.5, high transparency, temperature 10 C,
Exposure Ha = 100 minutes (10-minute sub-exposures),
RGB= 15:15:15 min (5-minute sub-exposures)
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;