NGC 6334 & NGC 6357

 WIDE FIELD IN SCORPIUS  

(Image centered at: ra 39 h:41 m / dec - 35º 11')

March 2023, Home Backyard in Martínez, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Wide Field

FOV 4º 30' x 3º 30'

APPARENT MAGNITUDE (V): NA

DISTANCE: 5500 & 8000 light years respectively      

IMAGE INFORMATION

INSTRUMENT: Canon EF 200 mm lens stopped at 4,5

CAMERA: QSI 583 WS

MOUNT: SKY WATCHER NEQ6, Guided with 70/400 refractor 7 Starlight Xpress Lodestar

FILTERS: Baader LRGB Set, Astronomik Ha 6nm

SKY CONDITIONS: urban skies - Bortle 8

EXPOSURES: LHARGB (60,60,60,60,60) Luminance synthetic RGB

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

A wide field image in the curving tail of the scorpion we found two patches of nebulosity. The upper left is the triple lobbed NGC 6334 aka the "Cat Paw Nebula" discovered by John Herschel in 1837. NGC 6334 is a large and active star forming region with abundance of hydrogen gas. atoms that gives the dusty clouds. It is one of the most productive areas of star forming, much rapid than the Orion Nebula. This factory is hosting 200.000 Suns worth of star creating material.

To the bottom right we have NGC 6357. The nebula complex contains several proto stars shielded by dark disk of gas. At the core lies the stellar cluster Pismis 24 with star exceeding 100 solar masses. The nebula spans 400 light years, showing intricate shapes carved by stellar winds and energetic radiation from the young forming massive stars.