This data from telescope live was pleasantly challenging to process! While the individual filaments hade high SNR, the background and fainter details were not, so figuring out a noise reduction technique that preserved the small detail but smoothed the background was a fun challenge. There are a couple of features in this image that I haven’t noticed before that I did my best to show off:
First, there appear to be Oiii-Ha diffuse shock fronts above and below the actual pencil nebula. Additionally, there is a very faint Oiii arc to the right of pencil nebula, which will probably require a ton more integration time to make sense of.
Next, there is this strange little nebula which I haven’t seen imaged before. While it’s definitely not a new discovery or anything cool like that, I don’t think it’s been imaged much because it’s so close to the much cooler pencil nebula. In the future, It would probably be super cool to image this a lot more deeply, especially because I would guess that there s a lot of IFN in this region.
This supernova shock wave plows through interstellar space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Near the middle and moving up in this sharply detailed color composite, thin, bright, braided filaments are actually long ripples in a cosmic sheet of glowing gas seen almost edge-on. Cataloged as NGC 2736, its elongated appearance suggests its popular name, the Pencil Nebula. The Pencil Nebula is about 5 light-years long and 800 light-years away, but represents only a small part of the Vela supernova remnant. The Vela remnant itself is around 100 light-years in diameter, the expanding debris cloud of a star that was seen to explode about 11,000 years ago. Initially, the shock wave was moving at millions of kilometers per hour but has slowed considerably, sweeping up surrounding interstellar material. In the featured narrow-band, wide field image, red and blue colors track, primarily, the characteristic glows of ionized hydrogen and oxygen atoms, respectively.
Image:
Full PNG available for download here: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53484996629_9392769012_o.png
Details:
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106ED
Camera: FLI PL16083
Filters: Astrodon Ha, Oiii
Location: Heaven's Mirror Observatory, Yass, NSW 2582, Australia
Date of Observations: 2021/12/1, 2021/12/15, 2021/12/24, 2021/12/26, 2022/01/13, 2022/01/15, 2022/01/20, 2022/01/22, 2022/02/11, 2022/02/12, 2022/02/14, 2022/02/17, 2022/03/11, 2022/03/21, 2024/04/03, 2024/04/10
Ha: 48 x 600s (8h)
OIII: 48 x 600s (8h)
Processing: Pixinsight
Credits: Data: Telescope Live; Processing: William OstlingProcessing:
Image Preparation
- Images were cosmetic corrected for hot pixels
- The subframes were weighted, registered, normalized, integrated, and drizzled in WBPP
- The Ha and Oiii channels were cropped platesolved
Linear Processing
- Ha and Oiii were deconvoluted
- Ha and Oiii were made starless with starnet 2
- Noise reduction was performed using deepsnr and an iterative MMT process
- Ha and Oiii were combined to HOO
- a synth RGB was created and the stars were extracted
Non-Linear Processing
- HOO was stretched using HT and exponential transform
- HDR was preformed using MMT
- Saturation and Color adjustments using curves
- Contrast adjustment with Curves and LHE
- RGB stars were stretched and added
46 thoughts on “The Pencil Nebula in the Vela SNR – A Widefield Astrograph”
This is a solid resource for anyone on this topic.
I found this post to be extremely helpful, thank you!
This answered a lot of questions I had—thanks!
I love how you made this so easy to follow.
You’ve done an amazing job with this post—thank you.
I had no idea about this before, really interesting!
Your post really breaks this down in an easy-to-understand way.
I really enjoyed how straightforward this post was.
Thanks for explaining this in such simple terms!
I can’t wait to see more posts like this.
Your writing is always so clear and helpful—thank you.
This post is full of helpful tips and insights—great work.
I really appreciate the way you explained this.
I’ll definitely be sharing this with my colleagues.
You’ve put this together so well, it’s a fantastic read.
You’ve really helped me understand this topic better.
This is such a helpful post, I’ll definitely come back to it.
I appreciate the fresh perspective you brought to this topic.
I really enjoyed reading this post. Your clear and concise writing style makes complex topics easy to understand. The depth of your analysis is impressive, and the practical tips you provided are very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
This is such a well-rounded post, thanks for the insights!
What a great story! I’m so glad you shared it. The data you supplied was both practical and simple to grasp. Your ability to simplify otherwise difficult ideas is much appreciated. Anyone interested in learning more about this subject would benefit greatly from reading this.
You’ve put this together so well, it’s a fantastic read.
Reading your essay was a true pleasure for me. You were quite successful in elucidating the subject, and your writing is both interesting and easy to understand. The principles were much easier to grasp after reading the examples you provided. Your expertise is much appreciated.
Thank you for this insightful article. The way you presented the information made it easy to understand and apply. I appreciate the effort you put into researching and writing this. It’s a great resource for anyone looking to learn more about this subject.
I really enjoyed reading this post. Your clear and concise writing style makes complex topics easy to understand. The depth of your analysis is impressive, and the practical tips you provided are very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
Excellent piece! Your analysis is insightful, and the material is well-organized and simple to grasp. Your study and writing of this are greatly appreciated. For those curious about this subject, it’s an excellent resource.
What a superb piece of writing! Both the thoroughness and lucidity of your analysis are much appreciated. Your data was both practical and pertinent. This is a post that I will return to at a later date. Your knowledge and insight are much appreciated.
What a great story! I’m so glad you shared it. The data you supplied was both practical and simple to grasp. Your ability to simplify otherwise difficult ideas is much appreciated. Anyone interested in learning more about this subject would benefit greatly from reading this.
Great piece! Anyone with even a passing interest in the subject should read your in-depth analysis and explanations. Your inclusion of examples and practical ideas is really appreciated. We appreciate you being so kind with your time and expertise.
What a fantastic piece of writing! Your data is both practical and pertinent. Both the thoroughness and lucidity of your analysis are much appreciated. This is a post that I will return to at a later date. Your knowledge and insight are much appreciated.
Excellent piece! Your analysis is insightful, and the material is well-organized and simple to grasp. Your study and writing of this are greatly appreciated. For those curious about this subject, it’s an excellent resource.
For en fremragende skrivejobb! Både grundigheten og klarheten i din analyse er sterkt verdsatt. Dine data var både praktiske og relevante. Dette er en artikkel jeg vil komme tilbake til på et senere tidspunkt. Din kunnskap og innsikt er sterkt verdsatt.
Reading your essay was a true pleasure for me. Even the more difficult subjects are easily understandable because of how you present them. Thank you for taking the time to provide such comprehensive details. For anyone interested in this topic, this is an excellent resource.
Your post is both informative and interesting; I appreciate it. Your writing approach simplifies otherwise difficult subjects. Thank you for taking the time to provide such detailed information. For anyone interested in this topic, this is an excellent resource.
For en flott historie! Jeg er så glad for at du delte den. Dataene du ga var både praktiske og enkle å forstå. Din evne til å forenkle ellers vanskelige ideer er sterkt verdsatt. Enhver som er interessert i å lære mer om dette emnet vil dra stor nytte av å lese dette.
Jeg setter pris på at du tok deg tid til å skrive og dele denne innsiktsfulle artikkelen. Den var klar og konsis, og jeg fant dataene veldig nyttige. Din tid og energi brukt på forskning og skriving av denne artikkelen er sterkt verdsatt. Enhver som er interessert i dette emnet vil uten tvil dra nytte av denne ressursen.
Å lese ditt essay var en sann glede for meg. Du var svært vellykket i å klargjøre emnet, og din skrivestil er både interessant og lett å forstå. Prinsippene var mye lettere å forstå etter å ha lest eksemplene du ga. Din ekspertise er sterkt verdsatt.
To my surprise, I learned a lot from this piece. You have a gift for putting complex ideas into simple terms, and the examples you supplied really helped drive home your points. Your information is quite thorough, and I am grateful to you for that.
Thank you for this insightful and well-researched post. Your clear explanations and practical examples make it easy to understand and apply the concepts. I appreciate the effort you put into providing such detailed information. This is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more about this subject.
Your post is both informative and interesting; I appreciate it. You have a way with words that simplifies even the most difficult subjects. This article taught me a lot, and I will be using it again and again. You are doing an excellent job.
Reading your essay was a true pleasure for me. Even the more difficult subjects are easily understandable because of how you present them. Thank you for taking the time to provide such comprehensive details. For anyone interested in this topic, this is an excellent resource.
This is a well-written and informative article. Your clear explanations and practical examples make it easy to understand and apply the concepts. I appreciate the time and effort you put into providing such thorough information. Thank you for sharing your expertise.
Excellent piece! Your analysis is insightful, and the material is well-organized and simple to grasp. Your study and writing of this are greatly appreciated. For those curious about this subject, it’s an excellent resource.
This post is very well-researched, and I appreciate you sharing it. What you said was really helpful and pertinent, and I appreciate it. You made the concepts really clear and easy to understand. When you have time, I would love to read more of your articles.
This article is very appreciated. The data you supplied is both informative and easy to digest. I thought your suggestions were brilliant, and they were simple to put into action. I appreciate you being so kind with your time and expertise. When you have time, I would love to read more of your articles.
Your explanations are really clear. I learned a lot from this article.