While I have had some success in imaging the Heart Nebula, the Soul Nebula (Westerhaut 5) has always been a challenge. It is significantly fainter than the Heart and my previous images have been plagued by noise, gradients, and hazy detail. Imaging conditions were good last night when I started imaging the Soul, but they declined quite quickly into haze and high clouds. I almost abandoned the session but decided to press on.
Westerhaut 5 is a massive, star forming region. The large cavities
in the nebula are carved out by the winds from young, massive stars and the
concentration of gas and dust caused by these winds is itself a catalyst for
further starburst (a process called “triggered star formation”). The posted
images show a full frame picture of the nebula, and two cropped frames of
dramatic areas of star formation, with large pillars of gas and dust and dark
globules. I’ve also included a starless version of the nebula.
Tech Card: RASA 8; DS10C; NBZ filter. 177 x 45 second
integrations (132 mins total). Stars removed, nebula optimized, and stars added
back).
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