These dark and menacing dust clouds outlined by bright crests of glowing gas are catalogued as IC 1871. About 25 light-years across, the image spans only a small part of the much larger Soul nebulae. At an estimated distance of 6,500 light-years the star-forming complex lies within the Perseus spiral arm of the Milky Way in the constellation Cassiopeia. The image shows a region of triggered star formation, where the dense star-forming clouds of IC 1871, created by the shock wave of a massive star in its final death throes, are in turn being sculpted by the intense winds and radiation of a new wave of massive young stars. The whole progression, from the death of one star to the birth of others, takes millions of years to complete.
Right ascension: 02h 56m 30.18 | Declination: +60° 40' 30.7" | Distance: 6,500 Light Years
Field of view: 42 x 28 arcmin
Camera: SBIG ST-10XME
Telescope: APM 152-1200ED F/7.9
Guiding: Starlight Xpress Active Optics SXV-LF-AO
Mount: 10Micron GM1000 HPS
Filters: Astrodon Ha (3nm), OIII (3nm)
Exposures: Ha 18 x 30 min, OIII 20 x 30 min
Total exposure: 19 hours
Scale: 1.15 arcsec/pixel
Image acquired: 2 nights in Dec 2016 and 3 nights in Jan 2017
Image capture with MaxIm DL, FocusMax, ACP; Image processed with MaxIm DL; PixInsight v1.8 Deconvolution; Photoshop CC 2015
