The Statue of Liberty Nebula, NGC 3576
Nicolas Rolland, via El Sauce Observatory, Rio Hurtado, Chile, January and February 2020
Nicolas says: “I like this image because it represents a real pareidolia game, without good or bad answers; as well as the distinctive shape of theStatue of Liberty, you can also make out a dragon head and a crocodile side. You can let your imagination run wild. From a scientific point of view, it showcases dense knots of dark interstellar dust, bright stars formed afew million years ago and huge fields of glowing hydrogen gas ionized by these stars.”
Equipment: SBIG STXL-11002 camera, PlaneWave 17” CDK astrograph, Paramount ME mount Exposure: Ha, SII, OIII 20 x 1,800” each, RGB stars 8 x 1,200” each: 36.6h total Software: CCDstack, PixInsight, Photoshop…