C92 — Carina Nebula
Emission Nebula in Carina
About
A huge emission nebula in Carina, about 8,500 light-years away, with dark clouds such as the Keyhole cutting across its glow. The hypergiant Eta Carinae sits inside it and went through a major outburst in 1841.
Imaging tips
- At 200–340 mm on APS-C (310–520 mm full frame) the nebula, about 120′ across, spans a third to half of the frame, with the cluster Cr228 about 22′ away in the same field.
- One imager needed six or seven mosaic panels and over 80 hours of Hα, OIII and SII, with RGB kept for the stars. The same author found the lopsided composition hard to balance.
- The field is crowded: the same imager desaturated and shrank the RGB stars before laying them over the narrowband image, because star removal was impractical.
- Never rises from 50°N or 35°N (peaks near −20° and −5°). From the south it is best around February and March.
Facts
- Size
- 120′
- Magnitude
- 1.0
- Coordinates
- RA 10h 45.1m, Dec −59° 44′
- Framing, APS-C
- 200–340 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 310–520 mm
- Best months
- Feb, Mar
- Peak altitude
- never rises from 50°N, never rises from 35°N
Nearby
- Cr228 · 22.5′ away