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      NGC 2736 , the Pencil Nebula
      Wallpaper author:
      Andrew Macica

      26 Feb 2026

      NGC 2736 , the Pencil Nebula

      This is NGC 2736 is a Supernova Remnant which is part of the larger Vela XYZ supernova remnant region. It is located in the southern constellation of Vela. It is the result of a type II supernova that occurred 11,000 years ago. (NOIRLAB)


      It is also known as the Pencil Nebula due to its iconic tapering shape.


      This image is a narrowband image (HSO). The table below shows the RGB channel assignments:


      Channel --> Narrowband


      Red --> Hydrogen Alpha (656.3 nm)

      Green --> Sulfur II (672 nm)

      Blue --> Oxygen III (500.7 nm)


      Bottom line, this mapping communicates the composition of different regions in the nebula. It does not represent the way the nebula appears to our eyes.


      The stars are narrowband (HOO).


      Image processed by Andrew Macica, original data from Telescope Live.


      Imaging Details:


      Observatory: Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile

      Telescope: Planewave CDK24

      Aperture: 610 mm (24 inches), f/6.5

      Focal Length: 3962 mm

      Camera: FLI PL 9000 CCD

      Filters: H-alpha, SII, OIII

      Total Exposure: 23 hours 20 min.


      Image Processing:

      PixInsight 1.8.9-3 Ripley (x64);

      BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, StarXTerminator (RC Astro);

      Adobe Photoshop 25.12.4;

      Adobe Lightroom Classic 15.1.1


      Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.

      Dataset from which the image was processed

      NGC 2736

      16 credit

      Open
      Telescope Live
      CHI-1-CCD
      • Type of target
        ............................................................................................................................
        Supernova Remnant
      • Camera
        ............................................................................................................................
        FLI ProLine PL9000
      • Target coordinates
        ............................................................................................................................
        RA 134.9583 Dec -45.95
      • Hemisphere
        ............................................................................................................................
        Southern
      • Telescope location
        ............................................................................................................................
        Chile
      • Transient event
        ............................................................................................................................
        No
      • Observed on
        ............................................................................................................................
        04 Nov 2019 - 11 Apr 2022
      Filter
      Avg Exp (s)
      Total Exposure
      Subframes
      Halpha87612h10m50
      OIII6368h50m50
      SII1712h20m49

      NGC 2736 , the Pencil Nebula