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200% crop showing planetary nebula LHA 115-N 70
| Catalogue and alternative designations | NGC
346
|
| Type | Clusters and Nebulas in the SMC |
| Position | 0 59 18, -72 10 48 |
| Constellation | Tucana |
| Camera and Telescope | STXL6303E and 36.3 cm Ritchey Chretien |
| Focal Ratio | F9 |
| Exposure Details | This
is a Hubble palette image with
Sulphur II assigned to red,
Hydrogen alpha assigned to green
and Oxygen III assigned to blue
using Astrodon series II
filters. Some RGB colour was
blended into the stars.
The exposures were:
SII = 385 minutes, OIII = 360 minutes and Ha = 270 minutes, R = G = B = 60 minutes
|
| Description |
(adapted from ESO) NGC 346 is the brightest star-forming region in the neighbouring Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy, some 210 000 light-years away from Earth. The light, wind and heat given off by massive stars have dispersed the glowing gas within and around this star cluster, forming a surrounding wispy nebular structure that looks like a cobweb. It is about 4' across and easily visible in a small telescope. Just to the right of the main nebula is the small planetary nebula LHA 115-N 70 |