M17, THE OMEGA NEBULA, also called THE SWAN NEBULA on  2024-07-02

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M17 is about 5,000 to 6,000 light-years from Earth and about 15 light-years in diameter. The cloud of interstellar matter, of which this nebula is a part, is roughly 40 light-years in diameter and has a mass of about 30,000 solar masses. The Omega Nebula is one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions in our galaxy. Its local geometry is similar to the Orion Nebula (M42) except that it is viewed edge-on rather than face-on.

This photo was taken in Kyle, Texas through a 6-inch f/4 Telescope, on a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, with a ZWO ASI533MC PRO color camera. The processing was done in PixInsight. The total image acquisition time is: 03 hrs 25 min 00 sec.

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