IC 2162

Click on image for larger version.


 These glowing clouds of gas have young and bright stars in their centers which cause the gas to emit red light. Cool gas and dust in these clouds also cause the dark lanes and filaments by blocking background sources of light. These relative small clouds are located in the constellation of Orion (but closer to the border of Gemini) towards the outer spiral arm of our galaxy. Note the large diffuse nebula on the left edge of the top image. The bottom image is a high-resolution picture of the same nebulae.

Equipment

Meade 16in LX200 telescope operating at f/6.3 and f/10
SBIG ST8E CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = 42 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 10 minutes binned 3x3
 Green = 10? minutes binned 3x3
 Blue = 20 minutes binned 3x3
  • One iteration of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp was applied to the luminance image.

  • Clouds and a fogged corrector plate severely hampered the color components, especially the green for the top image.
  • The bottom hi-res image has a 60minute luminance exposure.

    • Minimum credit line: Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF (top image)
    Rowena and Matthew Chester/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF (bottom image)

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    Updated: 12/17/2001