Photo of the Week for March 1, 2019
Fancifully known as the Jellyfish Nebula, IC443 (lower right), is a supernova remnant in Gemini, located near the western foot of the Twins. The two brightest stars in the lower half of the photo presented above are Mu (left) and Eta (right) Geminorum. In addition to the Jellyfish, the field includes a large patch of fainter nebulosity catalogued as Sharpless 249. Although its luminous tentacles may make the cosmic Jellyfish look a little menacing, there’s no need for alarm—the object is some 5,000 light-years away.
This richly detailed portrait was captured by Stephan Hamel from his backyard in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He recorded a total of 14 hours exposure data with a ZWO ASI1600MM Pro monochromatic imaging camera, Explore Scientific 80mm refactor telescope, and a narrowband filter set consisting of an Astronomik 6nm O-III, Optolong 12nm H-alpha and Baader Planetarium S-II.
