|
Date: Oct.26, 2025 - Location: Dark Sky Observatory - Fort Davis, Texas Telescope: Officina Stellare f/3 RH200-AT - Mount: Paramount MX - Camera: QSI-640 Exposure: SII, Ha & OIII = 15x5 min. each R,G,B for stars = 20x30s min. each Click on the image to view at higher resolution. |
|
Sh2-132, as designated in the Sharpless catalog, is a relatively faint emission nebula located approximately 10,000 to 12,000[1] light-years away in the constellation Cepheus, near the border with Lacerta[1]. This H II region spans physical diameter of approximately 250 light-years[1]. The nebula is primarily ionized by two massive Wolf-Rayet stars[2,3]: WR 152 and WR 153ab (a binary system)[1]. These extremely hot and luminous stars expel powerful stellar winds at velocities up to 2,400 km/s[2,4], carving cavities and shock fronts into the surrounding gas. The brightest condensation near WR 153ab is sometimes called the "Lion's Head," ( Upper left in the image) with a prominent dark lane of dust sculpting the appearance of facial features. These features evoke a lion's profile with the head to the upper left and body extending to the right. The image above is known as a mapped, or false, color image and was acquired using narrowband filters. It was assembled using the standard Hubble Palette with SII mapped to Red, Ha mapped to Green and OIII mapped to Blue. Stars were overlaid using broadband RGB data to preserve natural star color and detail. A Bi-Color HOO (near true color) version of the Liom Nebula may be view here. A Hubble Palette (SHO) version of the Lion Nebula may be view here.
Member of the Dark Sky Observatory Collaborative
References
|
