Observation by Kevin Gurney: Eagle Nebula

Uploaded by

Kevin Gurney

Observer

Kevin Gurney

Observed

2026 Aug 05 - 23:25

Uploaded

2026 Aug 22 - 15:29

Objects

The Eagle Nebula (M16)

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Constellation

Serpens Cauda

Field centre

RA: 18^h18^m
Dec: -13°48'
Position angle: -0°23'

Field size

0°20' × 0°15'

Equipment

Celestron C11 HD
Fornax 102 mount
Baader 1.25 inch narrowband filters (Ha, OII, SII)
ZWO ASI 1600MM camera
NINA, PhD2, Pixinsight, Xnview

Exposure

6 hours of 300s subs over several nights

Location

Charente, France

Target name

Eagle Nebula

Title

Eagle Nebula

About this image

The Eagle Nebula (M16) is quite prominent in narrowband, but is not an

easy target because it is quite low on the horizon during its 'window

of opportunity' of a few weeks in late summer. It is a little better

positioned in France than the UK, but can still be challenging.

The central nebula itself was made famous to the general public as one

of the earliest images from the HST, and dubbed therein 'The Pillars

of Creation'.

In processing, the colour mixing of the narrowband components (based

on the Hubble Palette) was facilitated by the Narrowband Color Mapping

tool in Pixinsight (PI). As usual, the deconvolution tool -

BlurXterminator - really sharpened things up, and judicious use of

Local Histogram Equalisation in PI helps display the structures in all

parts of the image to good effect.

Files associated with this observation

M16_FINAL_LRGB1_recomb3_nomagentaXnview2.jpg (7.5 MB)

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