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Cosmic Reef

NGC 2020

Telescope : ASA RC-1000

Camera : FLI ProLine 16803

Mount : ASA Alt/Az Mount

Focal length : 6800mm

Fov : 19 x 19 arcmins

Image Scale : 0.273 arcsec/pixel

Observatory : ChileScope

Filters: HOO

R 7 x 3m G 7 x 3m B 7 x 3m

Ha 19 x 10m Oiii 22 x 10m

Integration: 7h54m

RA:05h32m38s

Dec : -67°3758

This image features the giant red nebula NGC 2014 and its blue neighbour NGC 2020 which together form part of a vast star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, approximately 163 000 light-years away. The region is a rich tapestry of blazing star birth as massive stars shape their stellar birthplace. NGC 2014 glows red due to the presence of hydrogen and nitrogen while the smoke ring like structure of NGC 2020 shines distinctively blue created by radiation from a hot Wolf-Rayet star, this time by ionizing oxygen instead of hydrogen. Star clusters abound in the region and along with the billowing colourful gas clouds, the area almost resembles an undersea world and earns it the moniker – The Cosmic Reef …… The image was a collaboration between a group of astrophotographers. We call ourselves SHARA and basically crowdfund resources to buy imaging time on telescopes around the world.

© Vikas Chander All rights reserved Copyrights