SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Hal Heaton
Location of Photo:
Chile Telescope 4
Date/Time of photo:
October 29 and 30, 2024
Equipment:
Unguided Very Small Telescope (Nikkor lens, 100mm aperture, f/2); 10 Micron GM1000HPS equatorial mount; FLI Microline 16200 camera (unbinned, 6.3 arcsec/px ); Astrodon GenII filters (R, G, B, Ha, OIII - 180 sec exposures integrated for 15, 15, 15, 30 and 18 mins, respectively)
Description:
This 7.7 x 6.3 degree image oriented with north up and east left captures the prominent blue star gamma2 Velorum and its proximity to the western edge of the Vela supernova remnant. The filamentary structure of the remnant outlined by the red H-alpha and bluish OIII emission likely is excited in part by ultraviolet radiation from this as well as other nearby stars. Myriad background stars dot the field against an H-alpha background that fades toward the inner part of the Gum Nebula at the upper right. Gamma2 Vel (HD 68273) is a young spectroscopic double comprising a carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet star (about 9 Msun, which was originally about 35 Msun before shedding its outer envelope) and an O giant (about 30 Msun). At a distance of about 345 pc, it is the closest Wolf-Rayet star to Earth.
