Mosaic of NGC 6604, the Eagle Nebula, and the Swan Nebula

Near the constellations Sagittarius and Scutum, you’ll find a string of three nebulae, with NGC 6604 highest in the sky, with M16 (the Eagle Nebula) just below it, and M17 (the Swan Nebula) just below M16. NGC 6604 is a relatively young, active star-forming region about 4,500 light-years away. The Eagle Nebula is about 7,000 light-years away and holds within it the famous “Pillars of Creation,” where active star formation is also underway. The Swan Nebula is about 5,500 light-years away and contains one of the youngest star clusters in the galaxy, at only 1 million years old.

October 24, 2024

Completely reprocessed in PixInsight.

Technical Details

Imaging Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 II

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro

Filter: Antlia Tri-band RGB Ultra Filter - 2” Mounted

Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF, ZWO Filter Drawer (Gen 2)

Software: Siril, Starnet, Photoshop, NoiseXterminator, APF-R

Guiding Telescope: William Optics UniGuide 32

Guiding Camera: ZWO ASI174MM

Imaging Dates: June 22, 2024

Frames (gain 101.0) f/4.9 -10c: 90x180” (4h30m)

Integration Time: 4h30m

Darks/Flats/Dark Flats: 30/25/30

Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 5.00

July 10, 2024

Southern Nebulae are fairly challenging for me to image due to obstructions limiting the time each object is visible at my location, but I thought I would give this a go anyway. I was able to get about 1.5 hours integration on each object, which isn't much but still worth sharing. If I can string together another few clear nights, I may add some more data to this one.