Comet C/2023 E1 Atlas In a Rare Encounter with Flying Bat and Squid Nebula
Alqueva´s Dark Sky Reserve | By Year: 2023 | Deep Sky Wide Field
A deepsky wide portrait captured in different wavelengths between Ha, OIII and RGB light, features a large reddish cloud of glowing hydrogen gas from the Sh2-129, known as Flying Bat nebula with a physical diameter of 271 light-years, seems to have embedded a blueish giant Squid which spans across the center 50 light-years long. Discovered in 2011 by French astrophotographer Nicolas Outters, and located in the constellation Cepheus, the very faint bipolar shape from this planetary nebula (stars like our sun transform themselves into white dwarfs by casting off their outer gaseous) is distinguished here by the blue-green emission from doubly ionized oxygen atoms. Although, an extra greenish diffuse ball is visible close to the edge of Flying Bat reddish wings, it’s not a new type of fancy nebulas, but a rare encounter with a solar system visitant, the lonely faint comet C/2023 E1 Atlas, shinning with a dimmer 14.7 magnitude, its orbiting the Sun every 85 years at an average distance of 19 AU. Among the 11 nights between July and August that I spent shooting the Flying Bat nebula to acumulate the total time exposure of 39.5 hours, I had a great luck for being capturing on the night of 5 August 2023 around UT23h, and using the Anit-Halo PRO Dual-Band 3nm from Player One. Because I was able to capture Ha and OIII at the same time, allowing the green coma of the comet to turn visible in my filtered light for being emitting in the same wavelength where OIII emission lies in the G and B channels. If it was only Ha, I would miss it because it was totally invisible in this narrowband red channel. Close to the left edge, are lying nebulas VdB 140 and LDN 446. The image was captured from Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory, Cumeada, in Portugal, with a Poseidon-C Pro Camera.
PT: Um retrato amplo do céu profundo captado em comprimentos de onda diferentes entre a luz Ha, OIII e RGB, apresenta uma grande nuvem avermelhada de gás hidrogénio brilhante a Sh2-129, conhecida como nebulosa do Morcego Voador (Flying Bat Nebula) com um diâmetro físico de 271 anos-luz, parece ter incorporado uma lula gigante azulada que se estende pelo centro por 50 anos-luz de comprimento. Descoberta em 2011 pelo astrofotógrafo francês Nicolas Outters, e localizada na constelação de Cepheus, a forma bipolar muito ténue desta nebulosa planetária (estrelas como o nosso Sol transformam-se em anãs brancas ao libertarem o seu gás exterior) distingue-se aqui pelo azul esverdeado resultado da emissão de átomos de oxigénio duplamente ionizados. A imagem revela ainda uma estranha bola difusa esverdeada, visível perto das asas avermelhadas da nebulosa do Morcego Voador, não é um novo tipo de nebulosa fancy, mas um raro encontro com um visitante do sistema solar. O tímido cometa solitário C/2023 E1 Atlas, brilha com uma fraca magnitude de 14.7, orbitando o Sol a cada 85 anos a uma distância média de 19 UA (1 Unidade Astronómica – é o equivalente da distância entre a Terra e o Sol). Das 11 noites entre Julho e Agosto que dediquei à captação da nebulosa Flying Bat para acumular o tempo total de exposição de 39.5 horas, tive a sorte por uma destas ter sido a noite de 5 de Agosto de 2023 por volta das 23h UT, e por estar a usar o filtro Anit-Halo PRO Dual-Band 3nm da Player One. Isto porque consegui captar Ha e OIII ao mesmo tempo, permitindo que o Coma verde do cometa ficasse visível na minha luz filtrada por estar emitindo no mesmo comprimento de onda, onde recai a emissão de OIII, apenas visível nos canais verde (G) e azul (B). Se fosse apenas Ha, eu teria perdido esta passagem do cometa porque era totalmente invisível neste canal vermelho de banda estreita (R). Perto do extremo esquerdo da imagem, encontram-se ainda as nebuloas VdB 140 e LDN 446. A imagem foi captada a partir do Observatório Oficial do Dark Sky® Alqueva, na Cumeada, Portugal, com uma Player One Astronomy, a Poseidon-C Pro Camera.
Below: The annotated version produced with PixInsight script, based in several known catalogues to identify the main objects in the image, as well as the image without the presence of the comet to appreciate only the nebulas and starfield presented in landscape and portrait, intended to help conduct the reader attention to the most interesting parts of the image. At Last, a quick video animation of the transit over 30 raw inidividual calilbrated frames, taken with Green and Blue channel extracted from the OIII and lighten up with low opacity of the Red Ha channel to reveal an hint of the Flying Bat shape.
PT: Em baixo: A versão legendada com anotação produzida pelo script do PixInsight baseado em vários catálogos reconhecidos, identificando assim os principais objectos visíveis na imagem, assim como uma versão da imagem sem o cometa para se apreciar melhor as nebulosas e o campo estelar nela envolto, em formato de paisagem e retrato com o objetivo intencional de ajudar a conduzir a atenção do leitor para as partes mais interessantes da imagem. Por último, uma animação vídeo do trânsito a partir de 30 frames raw calibrados individualmente, captados nos canais Verde e Azul do OIII, posteriormente misturados com o canal vermelho do Ha, com uma opacidade muito baixo para revelar subtilmente os contornos da nebulosa Flying Bat.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
Taka FSQ-106ED at F3.6 – EM200 auto-guided in N.I.N.A| Poseidon-C Pro Camera from Player One Astronomy | Sub Exp. 5 min with Anit-Halo PRO Dual-Band Filter 2″ (Ha+OIII) 3nm from Player One Astronomy | Total integration of 39,5h (35 in HaOIII + 4,5h in RGB). Processing on PixInsight 1.8.9-2 and Photoshop CC 2024. Cumeada Observatory from Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal.
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