GUM 15 (aka RCW 32) - EMISSION REFLECTION NEBULA

VELA

 (ra: 08.45,2/ dec 41:19)

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March 2011, Villa Ventana - Buenos Aires, Argentina

Collaboration with Juan Jose and Lautaro Destefani

DATA

TYPE: Emission and Reflection Nebula

Apparent Magnitude: NA

Apparent Diameter: 20 arc minutes

DISTANCE: 3000 lights years

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: Orion Optics UK 150/750 f5 Ultra Grade Mirror with Baader MPCC

CAMERA: QSI 583 WS

GUIDING: Synta 70/400 refractor with Starlight Xpress LodeStar AstroArt 3.0 - Control Interface 3.72 plug in

FILTERS: Astronomik Type II 

SKY CONDITIONS: rural skies - transparency and seeing good

EXPOSURES: LRGB (42,30,20,20,20)

PROCESSING: Calibration in Images Plus Sigma Media (no darks, flats, bias applied), CCD Sharp, NASA Photoshop Fits Liberator, Photoshop CS2

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

Gum 15 is located in the north west part of the constellation of Vela. Is right in the middle of to bigger objects: Ru 64 and Gum 17. Gum 15 also host Collinder 197 a young galactic star cluster with high velocity dispersion. The star HD 74804 (Mg 7.34) is located in the center of the nebula and it is the responsible of the ionization of the gas. The central region shows dark patches of obscure dust is known as SL2.

The picture was taken from a dark site however the scope was 50 meters away a local car route and unfortunately came with considerable noise.