Gems of the sky - The Omega nebula

[glactus]

The Omega nebula

The Perfect Storm: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, these fantastic, undulating shapes lie within the stellar nursery of the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way, some 5,500 light years from Earth. Magnitude is variable to + 6.0

The Omega Nebula, also known as the Swan Nebula (catalogued as Messier 17 or M17 and as NGC 6618) is an H II region discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745. It was catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764.

The Nebula spans some 15 light-years in diameter and the cloud of interstellar matter of which this nebula is a part is roughly 40 light-years in diameter. The total mass of the Omega Nebula is an estimated 800 solar masses.

A cluster of 35 stars lie embedded in the nebulosity. This causes the gases of the nebula to shine due to radiation from these hot, young stars.



Credits: This is a NASA image

[Andy Mac]

Henry, delighted to see you post about my all-time favourite deep sky object - though its southerly declination means that you will get a far better view of it in Australia than I do in the UK.

This is certainly one of the brightest emission nebulae in the sky and its Swan shape is easy to see.

I must say that I would never have recognised it from that image in your post (the equipment/location it was taken with/from being somewhat superior to mine)!