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2024, November 2024 Charles Lillo 2024, November 2024 Charles Lillo

NGC 7094 and its new feature

This wide-field view reveals an extraordinary blend of cosmic objects, each contributing to the visual and scientific richness of the image.

  • M15, one of the densest globular clusters in the Milky Way, glitters with the light of hundreds of thousands of stars tightly packed into a spherical shape. Located about 33,000 light-years away, its dense core may harbor a rare intermediate-mass black hole, making it a subject of ongoing research.

  • NGC 7094, a planetary nebula, is a stellar remnant left behind by a Sun-like star nearing the end of its life. Its central white dwarf illuminates the nebula with ultraviolet radiation, sculpting the surrounding gases into intricate shapes.

  • The [O III] Zone, an unexpected discovery in this image, spans a large region and glows with a faint greenish-blue hue, characteristic of doubly ionized oxygen. The nature of this halo is a mystery—potentially a remnant of ancient stellar outflows or interstellar shockwaves.

Adding to the beauty, the image is interlaced with crimson hydrogen-alpha emissions and cosmic dust clouds, which create a vivid backdrop. These elements highlight the interplay of old and new: ancient star clusters, dying stars, and the raw materials for future stellar generations.

This image serves as a testament to the power of wide-field astrophotography, revealing not only familiar objects but also uncovering hidden phenomena awaiting deeper exploration. It’s a reminder that even well-known regions of the sky still hold secrets to be discovered.

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