The Blue Horsehead Nebula

The Blue Horsehead Nebula

Just above Rho Ophiuchi lies a bright reflection nebula known as NGC 4592 the Blue Horsehead Nebula or IC 4592 which is illuminated by the septuple star system Nu Scorpii which lies 470 light-years away and appears as the “horse’s” eye. Like its more famous cousin in Orion, this nebula is also made up of dark dust. Still, instead of appearing as a silhouette, it is illuminated but the ethereal glow from Nu Scorpii. A secondary nebula IC 4601 can be seen near two bright blue binary giant stars as well as a yellow star near the “horse’s” neck. Both IC 4592 and IC 4601 are a part of the same dust cloud and are themselves components of the Rho Ophiuchi Molecular Cloud Complex.

Data from Telescope Live

Image Acquisition Details

Telescope Live remote Imaging AUS-2 CMOS

telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED (382 mm, 106 mm, f/3.6)

Accessories: Paramount MX+, f/3.6 0.73x focal reducer

Camera: QHY 600M Pro

Filters: Astrodon Luminance, Red, Green, Blue

Guiding: N/A

Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Yass, NSW 2582, Australia

Sky conditions: Bortle 1

Processing: Siril processing

Integration time: (Luminance: 45x300s, Red: 46x300s, Green: 38x300s, Blue: 50x300s), (Luminance: 33x180s, Red: 23x180s, Green: 23x180s, Blue: 23x180s)

Total integration time: 20 hours, 1 minute