Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
LMC #4 - The Ghost Head Nebula & environs (NGC 2080, Large Magellanic Cloud), Paul Lloyd

LMC #4 - The Ghost Head Nebula & environs (NGC 2080, Large Magellanic Cloud)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
LMC #4 - The Ghost Head Nebula & environs (NGC 2080, Large Magellanic Cloud), Paul Lloyd

LMC #4 - The Ghost Head Nebula & environs (NGC 2080, Large Magellanic Cloud)

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Lying between the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070) and the main galactic bar of the LMC, this region
contains a good number of highly active emission nebulae. The “Ghost Head Nebula” is centred
around the open star cluster, NGC 2080, which comprises a number of quite young, very hot stars.
The “ghost head” is the nebula just left of centre in this image. It is so named for the two bright patches
(the “eyes of the ghost”) and its somewhat skull-shaped outline. The two bright patches are “super
bubbles” where the stellar winds of the central stars have swept the surrounding area of gas and dust.

Heinze’s Catalogue of LMC Nebulae has this listed as N106. Other nebulae in this field are listed as N159
(NGC 2078) left of N106, and N158 (NGC 2074) to the right and down a little. I have not been able to
identify the other areas as plate solving fails. In addition to these nebulae, the field is littered with
open star clusters and filaments of nebulosity.


Telescope: William Optics FLT110 refractor + 1.37x Barlow (f=1050mm)
Camera:     ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Exposure:  34 x 300 sec, gain = 125, no filter
                   44 x 300 sec, gain = 250, Optolong 7nm H-α filter
                   Bortle 3-4 sky, Moonless.
Field of View: approx. 0º 40’ x 1º 00’
Image processed and prepared in PixInsight and Photoshop Elements

Comments

Histogram

LMC #4 - The Ghost Head Nebula & environs (NGC 2080, Large Magellanic Cloud), Paul Lloyd