The constellation Auriga is home to a wealth of fascinating objects. The open star clusters M36 and M38 shine with their bright young stars at about 4,000 light years and make for an impressive sight.
The Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) fascinates with glowing gas and reflecting dust, set in scene by the hot star AE Aurigae. Equally impressive are the compact nebula NGC 1931 and the neighbouring Spider Nebula (IC 417), where new stars are born.
Further away, at about 12,000 light years, glows NGC 1893, a star cluster that pervades the nebula IC 410 and forms the famous “tadpole” structures. For this image I coloured the SII line red, as I found it visually more appealing.
Reprocessed in false colour, July 2025:
| IMAGE DATA | |
|---|---|
| Object | Auriga Region |
| Distance | approx. 4.000 - 12.000light years |
| Date | 17. & 18.01.2025 |
| Exposure | Each 20x 180sec. RGB, 44x 180sec. Luminance, 39x 300sec. SII, 35x 300sec. HA & 54x 300sec. OIII - Total 15.9h |
| Mount | Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro |
| Telescope | William Optics Redcat 51 |
| Camera | ZWO ASI 2600mm with ZWO RGB, Ha, OIII & SII-Filtern |
| Guiding | Zwo Asi OAG with ZWO Asi 290mm Mini & Asiair |
| Software | AsiAir, Astropixel Processor, Photoshop CC, Topaz Deniose AI, Star X Terminator, Nik Collection 7 |