Planetary nebula Abell 16

[iansmith]

Hello, this is my version of the planetary nebula Abell 16 in the constellation of Lynx.

Imaged with the Edge HD11 and QSI 6120 camera at prime focus, binned 2x2. In this image north is to the right and east is to the bottom.

Astrodon 3nm narrow band filters: 60x1200s for each of Ha, N2 and O3 making 30 hours in all. The narrow band channels have been blended according to the following scheme:

Red = 0.9*Ha+0.1*N2, Green = 0.5*(Red + O3), Blue = O3.

The background stars are 30x60s each in red, green and blue.

At a distance of 2413 lightyears, Abell 16 is one of the few examples of a spherical planetary nebula. Assuming that the distance is accurate (which is rarely the case for planetary nebula) it's actual diameter is ~3 lightyears with the gasses expanding at speeds of ~37km/s.

Planetary nebula are the result of a slowly expanding shell of gas ejected by the progenitor star in its AGB phase, interacting with the faster stellar wind given off when the progenitor star’s core is exposed. Often these winds are shaped by magnetic fields, companion stars, the interstellar medium and other effects, but in this case the gases appeared to have expanded equally in all directions.

Given that this interaction results in the turbulent mixing of bubbles of hot gas, I have deliberately highlighted the layers containing structures with a size similar to the FHWM (corresponding to a resolution of 2.2" ) of the image to give the impression of a roiling, boiling sphere of expanding gasses.

I hope you like it.

 

[PeterCPC]

I like it a lot!😀

[Graham Darke]

Awesome. 

[ramdom]

Stunning!