M16
The Eagle Nebula
Photographs by Gary and Kelsey Jensen
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M16
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Home | Nebulae | Galaxies | Star Clusters | My Equipment | Copyright Notice |
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Messier Number: M16 NGC Number: NGC 6611 Common Name: The Eagle Nebula Constellation: Serpens Distance from Earth: ~7,000 Light Years Visual Magnitude: 6.5 Size: 7.0 arc minutes |
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Date Taken: 6/6/2002 Location: RMSS 2002 Tarryall, CO Equipment: Takahashi FSQ-106n Astro-Physics 400GTO SBIG ST7E, NABG Exposure Specs: Processed with: CCDSoft Version 5 Adobe Photoshop v5.0 |
Photograph DescriptionCluster M16 was discovered by Philippe Loys de Cheseaux in 1745-6. Nebula IC 4703 discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. Lying some 7,000 light years distant in the constellation Serpens, and in the next inner spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy from us, a great cloud of interstellar gas and dust has entered a vivid process of star formation. Open star cluster M16 has formed from this great gaseous and dusty cloud, the diffuse Eagle Nebula IC 4703, which is now caused to shine by emission light, excited by the high-energy radiation of its massive hot, young stars. It is actually still in the process of forming new stars, this formation taking place near the dark "elephant trunks" which are well visible in this photograph. Source: seds.org
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Copyright © 2002, Gary Jensen. All rights reserved.