Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Carina (Car)  ·  Contains:  HD91572  ·  HD91619  ·  HD91824  ·  HD91943  ·  HD91969  ·  HD91983  ·  HD92007  ·  HD92024  ·  HD92044  ·  HD92121  ·  HD92313  ·  NGC 3293

Image of the day 06/04/2024

    Narrowband NGC 3293 - The Gem Cluster, Rolf Olsen
    Powered byPixInsight

    Image of the day 06/04/2024

      Narrowband NGC 3293 - The Gem Cluster, Rolf Olsen
      Powered byPixInsight

      Equipment

      Loading...

      Acquisition details

      Loading...

      Description

      NGC 3293, often referred to as the Gem Cluster, is a spectacular bright open star cluster located in the constellation of Carina. In this narrowband bicolour image the delicate nebulosity across the entire background  really stands out.
      It is one of the Southern Sky's finest binocular objects and consists of nearly one hundred stars huddled together in a tight group, with a contrasting bright red supergiant near it's centre - similar in appearance to Kappa Crucis in the Jewel Box Cluster.
      Floating against a colourful backdrop of Milky Way stars and red Hydrogen emission, the cluster is also surrounded by a delicate faint blue haze visible in broadband images. 
      The cluster was discovered by Abbé Nicolas Louis de La Caille in 1752 during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

      Image details: 
      Date: April - May 2022<br>
      Exposure: H-Alpha OIII: 405:540 mins, total 15 hours 45 mins @ -25C
      Telescope: Homebuilt 12.5" f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian
      Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
      Filters: Astrodon 3nm Ha OIII
      Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand

      Comments

      Sky plot

      Sky plot

      Histogram

      Narrowband NGC 3293 - The Gem Cluster, Rolf Olsen