The Crescent Nebula in Cygnus is produced by the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 in its center. Wolf-Rayet stars live their life in the fast lane. They begin as massive O-type stars, which burn hydrogen to helium in their core so rapidly that they last only a few million years before ending as supernovas.
With an estimated age of around 4.7 million years, WR 136 is expected to die with a brilliat bang within a few hundred thousand years. Presently, WR 136 is shedding mass at a furious rate of roughly one solar mass per 10'000 years. This fast stellar wind is catching up to older material, ejected when WR 136 still was a red super giant and is shaping it into the Crescent Nebula shell, which is excited to glow by intensive UV radiation emitted by WR 136 in its center.
Located near the star Sadr (Gamma Cygni), the Crescent Nebula is surrounded by the rich star field and red hydrogen emission nebulae of this Milky Way region.
As a special treat, the Soap Bubble Nebula is faintly visible at the lower right corner of the frame. This faint planetary nebula was only discovered 2008 by an amateur astronomer. It is the result of another dying star. This sun-like star is running out of hydrogen fuel and thus shedding its outer layers. Contrary to much the bigger Wolf-Rayet stars, sun-like stars are not massive enough to produce a supernova explosion and will slowly cool as white dwarfs when running out of fuel for their nuclear fusion.
EXIF
Telescope: William Optics Megrez 88
Camera: ZWO ASI 1600MM Pro
Baader SHO and RGB filters
Mount: Equatoriallly mounted Skywatcher AZ-GTI
Rig Control: ZWO ASIAir Plus
30 x 30s RGB
30 x 180s SHO
Total exposure time 5h15min
Tags: Astrophotography Astronomy Astro Deep Sky Deep Space Crescent Nebula NGC 6888
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My wife and I stayed at the Parador in Toledo during a short escapade to Spain this past May-2023. We have visited Toledo before but always wanted to return and stay in the city to appreciate its beauty in depth for a couple of nights. This day was particularly stormy. Storms faded shortly before sunset. The city was vibrantly illuminated by the setting sun and the gray skies gave way to the dramatic colors captured on this image. This panorama is a collection of several portrait images taken simultaneous from the balcony in our room and stitched in Adobe Lightroom. Needless to say that Toledo, good or bad weather, never disappoints.
Tags: Spain Toledo Castilla, La Mancha Medieval City
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Father and son team of Kazakh eagle hunters, framed by Mongolia's third highest peak, Mount Tsambagarav. The father's name is Shaimurat Askhabil. He is 58 years old and lives in Bayan-Olgii province in Western Mongolia. Mr. Askhabil is one of the best eagle hunters in the country and has won many awards and medals in eagle hunting festivals.
Tags: environmental portrait golden eagles Kazakh culture Kazakh eagle hunter Mongolia Mount Tsambagarav steppes travel photography travel portrait
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Grand Canyon, Arizona
A brilliant flash of lightning was followed much too closely by a deafening boom of thunder.
Peak mayhem had arrived.
Explored September 21, 2023
Tags: Arizona Colorado Plateau Grand Canyon Grand Canyon National Park Grandview Grandview Point South Rim USA United States canyon landscape lightning monsoon national park park rain rain storm rim summer
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Created using Stable Diffusion (SDXL)
Tags: fairy tale AI Artificial_Intelligence creativity DigitalArt StableDiffusion SDXL fantasy medieval castle entrance watercolor
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