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IC 4701, Messier 17, Messier 18 and NGC 6596 - Star
formation in the constellation Sagittarius |
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Short objekt description:
The large red emission nebula IC
4701 is also catalogued as LBN 56 and Sharpless 44. Together with
Messier 17, the Omega Nebula (included here), IC 4703 (Messier 16) and NGC
6604, the complete region is catalogued as Sharpless 2-54.
The open
star cluster NGC 6596 and the reflection nebula
vdB 120 can also be seen in our image. The
reflection nebula vdB 120 is illuminated by the bright blue star HD 167 746.
The strong H-II emission in this region overlays the normal blue hue of the
reflection nebula - but its structure is still quite visible.
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Messier 18 (NGC 6613) is a small, with about 30 million
years quite young open star cluster, which is assigned to class II 3 p n according to Trumpler. The numerous
bright, blue giant stars are so hot that they shine predominantly in blue light
and near ultraviolet light. The stars are embedded in a reflection nebula. M 18
is about 4600 light years from the Sun and was discovered by Charles Messier on
3 June 1764.
NGC 6596 - also an open star
cluster - is considerably older than M18. According to Trumpler, it is assigned
to class III 2 m n. The distance to the solar
system is about 3600 light years. The star cluster was discovered by Friedrich
Wilhelm Herschel on 27 June 1786.
We provide a detailed object
description of the Omega Nebula, Messier 17
here. We show a
large mosaic of the entire region Sh 2-54
here.
« Click here or on the thumbnail to load a large image with
object names and size comparison to the moon. |
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All Images und all Content are ©
by Franz Hofmann + Wolfgang Paech |