NGC 2626

Capture Credit: El Sauce Observatory, Chile
Processing by Kyle Ingersoll

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Target Details

At a distance of approximately 4000 light years, NGC 2626 is a peculiar combination of two types of nebulae. One is an emission nebula, due to the presence of pinkish-red clouds of glowing hydrogen gas. A nearby quadruple star system known as HD 73882 is responsible for exciting the structures within this object.

NGC 2626 also contains a reflection nebula in the centre. Reflection nebulae are caused when the light from a star illuminates surrounding dark and dusty molecular clouds. These structures do not glow through emission; rather, they reflect the colour of the light being thrown at them. In this case, the culprit is a blue B1 spectral type star known as CD-40 4432.

Wait, what exactly is a nebula in the first place? Well, nebulae come in many forms, ranging from very small planetary nebulae resulting from the deaths of stars to massive emission nebulae, which consume great swaths of their parent galaxies, and more.

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Capture Details

This image represents 5.26 hours total exposure on target, through 4 individual filters as follows:

15 x 5 minute Luminance subs
17 x 5 minute Red subs
17 x 5 minute Green subs
18 x 5 minute Blue subs

All light frames were captured at a scale of 0.39”/pixel, and with the camera sensor cooled to -15°celsius to reduce noise. Full capture credit belongs to El Sauce Observatory, residing at a whopping altitude of 1525 metres above sea level.


Equipment Details

  • Name: El Sauce Observatory
    Location: Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile
    Coordinates: 30.472529° S, 70.762999° W
    Elevation: 1525m

  • PlaneWave CDK24 (3962mm focal length)
    Corrected Dall Kirkham reflector telescope
    Astrodon LRGB filter set

  • Mathis MI-1000/1250 mount with absolute encoders

  • QHY 600M monochrome CMOS astronomy camera

  • TelescopeLive
    PixInsight