M52, Scorpion Cluster & NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula

This is a wide field image showing a number of celestial objects but four in particular. It is an HII region rich with hydrogen gas condensing to form new stars. This region is in the constellation Cepheus. The objects of particular interest is as follows:

NGC 7635 or the Bubble Nebula is at the center of the image. It is an HII region with a new star that is inflating the bubble.

NGC 7538 is the biggest yet discovered protostar which is about 300 times the size of the Solar System. It is the bright region below and left of center in the image.

NGC 7510 is the smaller open cluster of stars up and to the left in the image.

NGC 7654 (M52), also known ass the Scorpion Cluster is an open star cluster below and right of center in the image.

This image is a narrowband image (HOOS). It enhances the emission nebulas contribution of H-alpha, OIII, and SII.

The table below shows the RGB channel assignments as well as the addition of a yellow channel. Assignments are as follows:

Channel --> Narrowband

Red --> H-alpha

Green --> OIII

Blue --> OIII

Yellow --> SII

Stars are standard RGB color.

The purpose of this Narrowband image is to show the composition of the emission nebula. The solar wind from the star cluster is blowing the gas outward. Hydrogen compared to oxygen and sulfur is very light. Therefore oxygen and sulfur compose the inner part of the nebula. Hydrogen is located beyond the core of the nebula.

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

Imaging Details:

Observatory: IC Astronomy Observatory, Oria, Almería, Spain

Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4

Aperture: 106 mm, w/ 0.73x focal reducer, f/3.6

Focal Length: 382 mm

Camera: QHY 600M Pro CMOS

Filters: Ha, OIII, OIII, SII

Total Exposure: 10 hours 0 minutes

Image Processing:

PixInsight 1.8.9-3 Ripley (x64);

BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, StarXTerminator (RC Astro);

Adobe Photoshop 25.12.4;

Adobe Lightroom Classic 15.1

Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.