240314 - C49 "Rosette" nebula
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click image to enlarge
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ASTRO:
type=Emission nebula; mag=9.0; const=Monoceros; dist≈5200 ly; size≈130 ly IMAGE: location=EB Driveway; exposure=CMOS OSC 18x360s (1.8h), G100 palette=HOO EQUIPMENT: camera=ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro optics=ES102, w0.8x rdcr, F=571mm, f/5.6 filter=Optolong L-eXtreme DNB mount=Celestron AVX EQ guiding=Orion 60x240mm, ZWO ASi224MC SOFTWARE: acquisition=Stellarium, APT, PHD2, processing=PixInsight, RCAstro, PhotoshopCC, Lumenzia, APF-R, LrC |
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Not all roses are red, of course. Similarly, the beautiful Rosette Nebula (also known as Caldwell 49, or C49) is often shown in astronomical images with a predominately red hue, in part because the dominant emission in the nebula is from very energetic and ionized hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen's strongest optical emission line, known as H-alpha, (Hɑ) is in the red region of the visible spectrum of light. But the beauty of an emission nebula need not be appreciated in red light alone... Other atoms in the nebula are also excited by energetic starlight and produce narrow emission lines as well, only in other colors. In this view of the Rosette Nebula, images captured thru the use of a narrowband filter are "mapped" to broadband colors to show emission from Hydrogen in red, and Oxygen in green and blue. In fact, the scheme of mapping these narrow atomic emission lines (HOO) into the broader colors (RGB) is adopted by many amateur imagers as they process their images of emission nebulae.
This image spans appx 185 light-years across the center of the Rosette. The nebula lies some 5,200 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros.
The open star cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity of the Rosette. The stars of the cluster were formed from the mass of dust and gas contained within the nebula. The radiation from these young stars excites the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit light and radiation, and are responsible for producing the emission nebula we see. The mass of the nebula is estimated to be appx 10,000x that of our Sun. A survey of the nebula with NASA's Chandra X-ray Space Telescope Observatory has revealed the presence of numerous new-born stars inside the nebula, shrouded within a dense molecular cloud. Altogether, appx 2500 young stars lie in this star-forming complex, including two (2) massive type-O stars HD 46223 and HD 46150. These two (2) giants are each appx 400,000 times more luminous than our Sun and each roughly 50 times more massive. They are also primarily responsible for blowing the ionized "doughnut hole" in the center of the nebula cloud. Most of the ongoing star-formation activity is occurring in the dense molecular cloud to the southeast of the bubble.
Using equipment capable of "seeing" X-Rays, scientists have been able to see a diffuse X-ray glow between the stars in the bubble, which has been attributed to a super-hot plasma with temperatures ranging up to 10 M degrees Kelvin. This is significantly hotter than the plasma's seen in other H-II regions, and is hotter even than the surface of our Sun by a factor of more than 1700x. It is likely this extremely hot environment is attributable to the shock-heated winds from the 2 massive type-O stars.
On April 16, 2019 the Oklahoma Legislature passed HB1292 making the Rosette Nebula the official state astronomical object. Then Oklahoma Governor, Kevin Stitt signed it into law April 22, 2019.
This image spans appx 185 light-years across the center of the Rosette. The nebula lies some 5,200 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros.
The open star cluster NGC 2244 is closely associated with the nebulosity of the Rosette. The stars of the cluster were formed from the mass of dust and gas contained within the nebula. The radiation from these young stars excites the atoms in the nebula, causing them to emit light and radiation, and are responsible for producing the emission nebula we see. The mass of the nebula is estimated to be appx 10,000x that of our Sun. A survey of the nebula with NASA's Chandra X-ray Space Telescope Observatory has revealed the presence of numerous new-born stars inside the nebula, shrouded within a dense molecular cloud. Altogether, appx 2500 young stars lie in this star-forming complex, including two (2) massive type-O stars HD 46223 and HD 46150. These two (2) giants are each appx 400,000 times more luminous than our Sun and each roughly 50 times more massive. They are also primarily responsible for blowing the ionized "doughnut hole" in the center of the nebula cloud. Most of the ongoing star-formation activity is occurring in the dense molecular cloud to the southeast of the bubble.
Using equipment capable of "seeing" X-Rays, scientists have been able to see a diffuse X-ray glow between the stars in the bubble, which has been attributed to a super-hot plasma with temperatures ranging up to 10 M degrees Kelvin. This is significantly hotter than the plasma's seen in other H-II regions, and is hotter even than the surface of our Sun by a factor of more than 1700x. It is likely this extremely hot environment is attributable to the shock-heated winds from the 2 massive type-O stars.
On April 16, 2019 the Oklahoma Legislature passed HB1292 making the Rosette Nebula the official state astronomical object. Then Oklahoma Governor, Kevin Stitt signed it into law April 22, 2019.