#ngc2170

Barnard’s Loop and NGC 2170

Barnard’s Loop is a curious nebula located about 1,500 light years circling the Great Orion Nebula. While it glows much like an emission nebula, the true origin of the structure remains unknown. Supernovae or stellar winds from bright Orion stars have been suggested as causes for the nebula’s formation.

To the right of Barnard’s Loop in this image lies NGC 2170, a complex of nebulae located about 2,400 light years away towards the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. It includes blue reflection nebulae, emission nebulae, and dark dust clouds surrounding a molecular cloud.

・イプシロン130D ・SXP赤道儀 　 ・ASI 183MM Pro 冷却－10℃ ・L5分×50　RGB各5分×30 ・総露出時間 715分 ・NINA・PHD2・ GT40・ ASI120MM Mini ・ステライメージ9・フォトショップCC ・2022/11/25 他3夜・紀伊アストロスタジオ

NGC 2170

NGC 2170 is a complex of nebulae located about 2,400 light years away towards the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. This section is about 15 light years across, and is composed of both blue reflection nebulae and red emission nebulae.

Reflection nebula occur when dense dust clouds reflect the light of nearby stars, while emission nebula are the result of radiation from embedded stars. The radiation strips electrons from hydrogen atoms, which emit a characteristic red light upon recombination. Such regions are commonly found in molecular clouds, Mon R2 in NGC 2170′s case.