M17 Omega Nebula: A Stellar Nursery in Sagittarius
The M17 Omega Nebula, also known as NGC 6618, is a truly magnificent deep space object located in the Sagittarius Constellation, proudly residing within our own Milky Way Galaxy. As an avid astrophotographer, I'm particularly drawn to the intense, heated core of this nebula. It evokes a sense of familiarity, reminding me of the Trapezium in the Orion Nebula (M42), another powerhouse of star formation within our local galactic arm.
Both M17 and M42 showcase the incredible process of stars being born, revealing the remnants of exhausted gas lanes as new stellar bodies forge their existence. This image of M17 highlights these dramatic formations.
The Rig and the Journey
Capturing this celestial marvel required a dedicated setup and meticulous processing, especially considering the Bortle 7 conditions I was working with.
Acquisition Details:
- Mount: Hypertuned Celestron AVX
- Telescope: Redcat51 f/4.9 250mm Gen 1 (Manual Focus)
- Capture Control: ZWO ASIAIR Plus
- Guide Camera: ZWO 120mm ZWO Guide Camera
- Camera: ZWO ASI585MC Pro (One Shot Colour, 3840 x 2160 resolution) - Gain increased for narrowband imaging.
- Integration Time: 300 x 53 lights
- Filters: Askar C1 Hydrogen Alpha + Oxygen III Duo Narrowband 2"
- Location: Bortle 7 (city light dome)
The Art of Processing
Transforming the raw data into this stunning image involved a multi-stage processing workflow:
- Stacking: Performed using ASISTUDIO.
- Noise Reduction & Calibration: Siril was instrumental in removing green noise, performing plate solving, spectrophotometric color calibration, deconvolution, background extraction, and star removal.
- Cropping: Further refinement was done in Siril.
- Stretching & Denoising: Graxpert was used for denoising, background extraction, and a 10% stretch.
- Sharpening: SETIAstrocosmicclarity was employed for non-stellar sharpening and super-resolution at 2 passes.
- Final Touches: GIMP was used for light/shadow curve adjustments and color tweaks to bring out the nebula's vibrant details.
Witnessing the birth and evolution of stars through these nebulae is a constant source of awe, and I'm thrilled to share this view of the M17 Omega Nebula with you all.
