NGC 6188 and NGC 6164 (Narrow Band)

Location: Warrumbungle Observatory, Australia (149 11 E, 31 16 S)

Date: Various nights in June 2013

Camera: QHY-9

Telescope: William Optics M120

Frames: Two panels of each seventeen 20 minute Ha frames (total 11.3 hours)

Processing: Individual panels stacked in CCDStack. Panels stitched, curves, levels, sharpened and noise reduction in Photoshop CS5.

Text adapted from APOD: Fantastic shapes lurk in clouds of glowing hydrogen gas in NGC 6188, about 4,000 light-years away. The emission nebula is found near the edge of a large molecular cloud unseen at visible wavelengths, in the southern constellation Ara. Massive, young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association were formed in that region only a few million years ago, sculpting the dark shapes and powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions, from previous generations of massive stars, that swept up and compressed the molecular gas. Joining NGC 6188 on this cosmic canvas is rare emission nebula NGC 6164, also created by one of the region's massive O-type stars. Similar in appearance to many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164's striking, symmetric gaseous shroud and faint halo surround its bright central star at the upper left.