The National Institute of Astronomical Research revealed the astronomical photos taken by the Thai people. The “Banana Squid Nebula” indicates that it is difficult to photograph because it can only be seen during the rainy season.
The National Institute for Astronomical Research, or ASTRO, revealed the image via Facebook. Revealing pictures of nebulae made by Thai people. Photographed by Mrs. Wachira Thomas and won the first prize. 2023 Astronomy Photography Contest, Deep Sky Objects Category
The image of the nebula includes: the “Flying Bat Nebula” and the “Banana Squid Nebula”, which is a rarely seen nebula. Because it can be seen during the rainy season in Thailand. Make the sky so cloudy it’s hard to notice
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The doctor revealed that Mr. Washira took the said photo on June 23. Seongmin District, Phrae Province, using ZWO ASI2600mc-pro, WO Redcat51 lens, aperture size 51mm, focal length 250mm, f/4.9 and ISO set to 100.
Dr. Sur stated that the large red hydrogen gas cloud in the image is the “Flying Bat Nebula” or Sh2-129, an emission nebula located in the Cepheus constellation. It is about 2,300 light-years away from Earth, and conceals within it another nebula, the “Banana Ink Nebula” or OU4, and its distinctive feature is that the light emanating from it is bluish-green in color. Which occurs due to the breakdown of oxygen gas, creating beautiful contrasting colors.
These two nebulae were only discovered in June 2011 by French astrophotographer Nicolas Otters. The light of this nebula, which is the result of receiving tremendous energy from a massive star called HR 8119 or HD 202214, appears brightly near the center of the nebula.
Dr. Sood reveals the challenges of taking this photo: The nebulae can only be observed during the rainy season in Thailand. So there is very little chance of recording images. Due to unfavorable sky conditions in addition, the Banana Ink Nebula emits very faint radiation. Images must only be recorded through an Oiii filter, which requires the accumulation of image signals for a long time. So it appears clearly in blue and green
In addition, Mr. Wachira reportedly took two sets of images: the first set used an Optolong L-eXtreme filter to acquire the signal in the hydrogen alpha band with Oiii for 50 hours, while the second set used an IDAS D1 filter to collect light from other stars for a total of 20 hours. Over 70 hours, then processed with software to obtain the greatest amount of detail.
Compiled from Nareit National Institute for Astronomical Research
Photo from Nareit National Institute for Astronomical Research