With delicate wispy nebulosity and clear stars, Dave Dev snags the Photo of the Week title for March 18, 2022, with a glimpse of the distant Lion Nebula.
The lion-like Sh2-132 is a relatively faint emission nebula located approximately 10,000 light-years away from Earth, within the constellation Cepheus. The Lion Nebula is mainly composed of hydrogen and oxygen gases, which are in turn stimulated by high energy ultraviolet light from nearby stars that re-emit the light.
Dev captured this image from Woodbridge, Ontario, using a ZWO ASI 2600 mono and a SharpStar 94 mm APO (f/4.5), collecting 12 hours of data.
Honourable mention
This week’s honourable mention goes to Chris Parfett, who captured a photo of IC 405, the Flaming Star Nebula, and IC 410, the Tadpoles Nebula. Both can be found in the constellation Auriga.
The Flaming Star Nebula (pictured on the right of the image) is both an emission and reflection nebula, located approximately 1,500 light-years away from Earth.
The Tadpoles Nebula (pictured in the bottom-left of the image) is a relatively young nebula at four million years old. A stellar nursery, scientists estimate its distance to be about 12,000 light-years away.
Parfett said that after shooting an initial two hours and 40 minutes of red-green-blue data, he added another four hours and five minutes of data using a new Antlia ALP-T filter. The grand total integration time was six hours and 45 minutes.
Parfett captured this image from his home in Bittern Lake, Alberta, using a ZWO ASI294MC camera and William Optics RedCat 51 telescope.
Every week, SkyNews publishes the best image from among those sent in by readers from all across Canada. Whether you’re an expert or a beginner at night sky photography, we’re looking for your pictures! Enter today for your chance to win a Photo of the Week title and one of our annual prizes!
