July 16, 2023

M16 - Eagle Nebula

This is the Eagle Nebula (M16), one of the most iconic nebula in the night sky, is about 5,700 lightyears from Earth. Its most distinctive feature is the star forming region near the center, dubbed the “Pillars of Creation”. Both the Hubble Telescope and the JWST have imaged this area of the nebula in incredible detail. I finally had the opportunity to image the Eagle Nebula for just two short nights, collecting 2 hours of Ha and OIII as well as 2 hours of broadband RGB. This image is a false color HOO representation of the nebula. The blue area is doubly ionized oxygen (OIII), and the red/orange areas are hydrogen alpha (Ha). The stars are broadband RGB. I really like how this image turned out.

RA: 18h18m46s.8
DEC: -13°47′52″