Messier 16 (Eagle Nebula)

This is an object, I imaged several times during the years. The latest image is from a data set I obtained from the remote observatory Deep Sky West with telescopes in Chile and New Mexico.

The image shows the HII-region M16, located in the constellation Serpens. M16 or NGC 6611 is actually the name of the open cluster, while the HII region is referred to as IC 4703. However, M16 is usually used for both the star cluster and the nebula.

Data calibration and registration and the final processing was done with PixInsight.

The RGB bicolor result was as follows:

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M16 in the Hubble palette HSO looks like this

M16 HSO palette

M16 annotated

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Here is an overview of the used equipment and the exposure times:

• Date: 2018
• Location: Rowe, New Mexico
• Telescope/Lense: Astro Physics RH305
• Focal length [mm]: 1159
• Focal ratio: 3.8
• Mount: Paramount ME
• Camera: SBIG STX 16803
• Autoguiding: Off-Axis with ZWO Asi 120 MM Mini
• Filter: L:R:G:B:Hα:[OIII]:[SII]
• Exposure time [min]: 230:170:170:140:360:460:340
• Resolution: 1.66″/px

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Back in 2011, on a trip to Banon, France, I photographed Messier 16 along with Messier 17.
After calibrating, registering, and processing the data in PixInsight, I obtained the following image:

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Here is an overview of the used equipment and the exposure times:

• Date: 2011
• Location: Banon, France
• Telescope/Lense: Canon 300mm lens
• Focal length [mm]: 300
• Focal ratio: 4
• Mount: Vixen GP
• Camera: Canon 300Da
• Filter: OSC
• Exposure time [min]: 245
• Resolution: 9.4″/px

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In 2008, while on holiday on the astrofarm Tivoli, Naminbia, I captured images of Messier 16 together with Messier 17. I carried out the data calibration and registration in DeepSkyStacker and the final processing using PixInsight. The resulting image looked like this:

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Here is an overview of the used equipment and the exposure times:

• Date: 2008
• Location: Astrofarm Tivoli, Namibia
• Telescope/Lense: Pentax 75
• Focal length [mm]: 500
• Focal ratio: 6.7
• Mount: Vixen Atlux
• Camera: Canon 300 Da
• Autoguiding: no
• Filter: OSC
• Exposure time [min]: 64
• Resolution: 3.04″/px

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Back in 2006, during my stay at Astrofarm Tivoli in Namibia, I photographed Messier 16 for the very first time.
After calibrating and registering the data in DeepSkyStacker, I completed the final processing in PixInsight. Here’s the result:

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Here is an overview of the used equipment and the exposure times:

• Date: 2006
• Location: Astrofarm Tivoli, Namibia
• Telescope/Lense: Rubinar 500
• Focal length [mm]: 500
• Focal ratio: 5.6
• Mount: Vixen Atlux
• Camera: Canon 300 Da
• Autoguiding: no
• Filter: OSC
• Exposure time [min]: 33
• Resolution: 2.42″/px

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