M 17 (Sh2-45) / NGC 6618 (Cr 377) Bright Nebula / Open Cluster in Sagittarius
Located at:* RA 18 hours 20 minutes 45 seconds, Dec -16 degrees 10 minutes 00 seconds
Size: 11' x 6.0' / 27'; Magnitude: 6.9 / 6.0; Class: Emission (Sharpless) 3 3 3 / III 3 m n
North is up
West to the right
| Telescope: |
8" f5 Newtonian reflector |
| Camera: |
ST-8XME, self-guided, binned 1x1, temp -10c, camera control MaxIm DL 4.56 |
| Image: |
Lumicon Deep Sky filter, 250 minutes (25 x 10 minute subs), 09/2/3/2007 |
| Processing: |
CCDStack 1.3, Photoshop 7.0 |
| Location: |
Rolling Roof Observatory, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 (+34d 13m 29s -118h 52m 20s) |
| Notes:* | M 17 is also known as the 'Swan, Checkmark, Horseshoe and Omega'
nebula. The open cluster NGC 6618 fills the East (left) side of this
image. M17's nebulous designations are Sh2-45 and
LBN 60. Associated with the larger field is the bright nebula
IC 4706-07 off to the West (right). From the NGC / IC Project: Contemporary Visual Observation(s) for NGC 6618NGC 6618 = M17 = Swan Nebula = Omega Nebula = LBN 60 = Sh 2-45 18 20 47 -16 10.3 V = 6.0; Size 46x37 13.1": the "Swan Nebula" is very bright, very large, with fantastic detail along the bright bar. Has a turbulent texture with dark areas near the "hook". A nebulous halo surrounds the brighter star to the S. 8": very bright, large, very detailed. The brightest portion consists of a long bright ray which hooks S at the Wst end. A fainter section oriented N-S section follows. The main bar is mottled. The irregular hooked portion is clearly mixed with a dark nebula intruding. Fainter nebulosity is visible N and S of the main bar. - by Steve Gottlieb |