NGC2359 & Haffner 6
Wolf Rayet Bubble and Open Cluster in Canis Major

 

            
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 There are
            few objects in the sky as unusual as this nebula. This bubble
            of ionized gas is caused by a Wolf Rayet type star with a fierce
            stellar wind carving a spherical bubble in the middle of a cloud
            of gas, causing it to glow with primarily OIII and Hydrogen light.
            About a quarter degree in size, this primary object is accompanied
            by a loose open cluster, which I've framed in the bottom right
            corner, Haffner 6. Containing roughly 60 stars in an area of
            5 arc minutes, this 9th magnitude moderately rich cluster is
            nearly buried amongst a field of thousands of Milky Way stars.

            
The Nebulas Photographic
            color.

            
I have photographed
            this object for years with both film and CCD. My film shots are
            almost always a very close shade to white, since the films response
            to the teal OIII line was virtually non existent. CCD shows more
            reds in the upper regions, with either a blue or green bubble
            depending on the brand RGB filters you use. Here, a combination
            of the OIII and HII yield a close to accurate teal color, with
            red hydrogen excitation along the edges. I feel this is very
            close to what the eye would see if we could detect color in such
            a faint object.

Optics:  12.5" f/5 Newtonian w/Lumicon Coma Corrector
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200  
Camera:  Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO800
Exposure:  18 x 5m = 90mins
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  8/10, Transparency 9/10
Outside Temperature:  35F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS2, Images Plus 3.82
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