SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
George Tzellos
Location of Photo:
Markopoulo, Greece
Date/Time of photo:
08/08/2023
Equipment:
William Optics ZenithStar 61, ZWO ASI 533MM PRO, Sky-Watcher EQ5,ZWO 30mm mini guider, ZWO ASI 120m mini,Antlia LRGB V-PRO,Antlia H-Alpha EDGE 4.5nm
Description:
Image explanation: The Ghost (IC 63 & IC 59) are an emission and reflection nebula in the Northern constellation of Cassiopeia at a distance of 550 light years from Earth. The nebula is crafted by the intense stellar winds of the central blue supergiant star γ Cas. This star is 19 times more massive and 65 000 times brighter than our Sun. It also rotates at the incredible speed of 1.6 million kilometres per hour — more than 200 times faster than our parent star. This frenzied rotation gives it a squashed appearance. The fast rotation causes eruptions of mass from the star into a surrounding disk. This mass loss is related to the observed brightness variations. The radiation of Gamma Cassiopeiae is so powerful that it even affects IC 63, sometimes nicknamed the Ghost Nebula, that lies several light years away from the star. The hydrogen within IC 63 is being bombarded with ultraviolet radiation from Gamma Cassiopeiae, causing its electrons to gain energy which they later release as hydrogen-alpha radiation — visible in red in this image. This hydrogen-alpha radiation makes IC 63 an emission nebula, but we also see blue light in this image. On the other hand IC 59 exhibits a blueish color due to the fact that it reflects starlight from the massive star. Both nebulae are being eroded by the intense winds of Gamma Cas and eventually they will disappear. Image details: The image represents a total integration of 20 hours captured from Markopoulo in Greece under Bortle 7 skies. The image is a Ha-RGB combination though 1.25'' Antlia filters and a monochrome camera. Stacked in CCDStack2 and processed in Siril,GIMP and PS CS6. High resolution image can be found in my AstroBin profile. Thanks for watching .
