CBT-1, the Medulla Nebula

This is CBT-1, a supernova remnant in the Constellation Cassoiapeia. It also goes by the name the Medulla Nebula.

CTB 1 is the expanding gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion.

The resulting supernova remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still it glows in visible light because of the heat generated by its collision with confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray light, though, remains a topic of research. One hypothesis holds that an energetic pulsar was created and powers the nebula with a fast outwardly moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar was found in radio waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at over 1,000 kilometers per second. The Medulla Nebula appears as large as a full moon but is a very dim object requiring hours of exposure. (Friends of NASA)

This image is a narrowband image. Ionized gases in this nebula produce two prominent emissions: Hydrogen Alpha (656.3 nm) and Oxygen III (500.7 nm). I used the following Palette to map these emissions to RGB image channels. These are as follows:

Red: Hydrogen Alpha (656.3 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.

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

Imaging Details:

Observatory: Astrocamp, Nerpio, Spain

Telescope: ASA N10 250

Aperture: 250 mm, f/3.6

Focal Length: 900 mm

Camera: Player One Mono 571 CMOS

Filters: Nebula - Halpha, OIII; Stars -RGB

Total Exposure: 42 hours 45 minutes

Image Processing:

PixInsight 1.9.3 Lockhart (x64);

BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, StarXTerminator (RC Astro);

Adobe Photoshop 25.12.4;

Adobe Lightroom Classic 15.4.1

Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.