68 ASTRONOMY t FEBRUARY 2014
- THE CRESCENT NEBULA
NGC 6888 in Cygnus is a bubble of gas
carved out of the interstellar medium
by an incredibly energetic type of
sun known as a Wolf-Rayet star. The
Crescent’s size, 18' by 13', means that it
covers roughly 30 percent as much sky
as the Full Moon. (14.5-inch RC Optical
Systems Ritchey-Chrétien reflector,
Apogee U16M CCD camera, Hα/OIII/
RGB image with exposures of 360, 600,
255, 165, and 210 minutes, respectively)
- Mark Hanson
- NICE SPIRAL
NGC 7640 lies in Andromeda near some
much better-known objects. This barred
spiral glows at magnitude 11.3 and
measures 11' by 2'. (10-inch Astro Sys-
teme Austria astrograph at f/6.8, SBIG
STL-11000M CCD camera, LRGB image
with exposures of 310, 66, 51, and 51
minutes, respectively) • Ron Brecher
READER
GALLERY