Using his SVX90T, Greg Erianne captured this fabulous image of the Soul Nebula in Cassiopeia. This emission nebula is located roughly 7,500 light-years away from Earth and spans an area of the sky equivalent to four full moons. Radiation and winds from the region's most massive stars carve out large cavities which, as a result, pushes gas together, causing it to ignite into successive generations of new stars.

According to Greg:

This one is a sort of milestone for me since it's my longest integration yet using the beautiful SVX90T. :-)

The Image: The Soul Nebula (IC 1848, Westerhout 5, Sh2-199, LBN 667) is an emission nebula located in Cassiopeia, and is about 6,500 light-years (ly) away from Earth and about 100 ly across. IC 1848 refers to the open star cluster embedded in the OIII-rich region in the body of the nebula.

Nearby (not shown in the image) is IC 1805, the Heart Nebula, which is connected to the Soul Nebula by interstellar gas, some of which can be seen in the lower left of the image at the tail end of the Soul Nebula.

Also seen in the image are the smaller emission nebulae Sh2-198 (above and to the left) and Sh2-201 (to the right near the head of the Soul Nebula.

Other Designations: Sh2-199, LBN 667, IC 1848.

Details:

Scope: Stellarvue SVX90T: Apochromatic Refractor @native 540mm fL

Accessories:

SV106 with ASI120mm mini ASIAir Plus

ASI2600MM

ZWO 7-position 2” filter wheel

Mount: ZWO AM5 mount, Filters:

Filters:
Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2": 140×300″ [5:40]
Antlia 3nm Narrowband SII 2": 128×300″ [10:40]
Antlia 3nm Narrowband OIII 2": 122×300″ [10:10]
Antlia Pro V Luminance 2”: 14x60s [0:14]

Total integration time: 32:44

Capture Dates: 9/10/24 – 9/16/24

References:

Wikipedia contributors. (2024, September 12). Westerhout 5. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerhout_5

Admin. (2016, July 5). Soul Nebula - Westerhout 5 (IC 1848) – Constellation Guide. https://www.constellation-guide.com/soul-nebula/