RCW 103

SUPERNOVA REMNANT IN  NORMA 

 (Image Centred at ra 16h:18.14m  / dec -51:09)

August 2014 - Home Backyard in Martinez, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: Supernova Remnant     

Apparent magnitude: 6

Apparent dimension: 15 arc minutes

Distance: 10.000 light years

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: 8" Orion Optics UK w/TeleVue ParaCorr working at f5.75 and 1150 mm fl

CAMERA: QSI 583 WS. Resolution 0.97

FILTERS: Baader LRGB, 2" IDAS LPS for all channels

SKY CONDITIONS: urban skies 1/4 Moon

EXPOSURES: LRGB (30,30,30,30) all bin 1x1

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

RCW 103 is a young Supernova Remnant. From our earth perspective is less than one degree from the Milky Way plane and therefore there is a loss of 4.5 visual magnitudes due interstellar extinction. This remnant came out of the explosion of a massive star and has an estimated age of 2.000 years. The nature of its progenitor star can be inferred from the presence of an X-Ray pulsar in the heart of RCW 103. Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars, and neutron stars are the remnant collapsed cores of massive stars. (*)

The image was taken from my polluted backyard. I did not use Ha filter. The object present two distinctive arc forming what appears to be an incomplete shell.

The RCW catalogue was published in 1960 by Alex Rodgers, Colin Campbell and John Whiteoak under the direction of Bart Bok. It contains 180 objects many of them HII regions which are also referenced by their Gum objects.

(*) Text adapted from Middle East Technical University