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Several objects appear in this wide field image of NGC 6188. The first one is NGC 6188 itself, a very active star-forming region and therefore tinted deep red due to the presence of ionized hydrogen. The second one is located just upper left of center: NGC 6193, an open cluster that is growing due to the frantic star-birth and which is responsible for making NGC 6188 glow. The third one is NGC 6167, on the lower left, which is believed to have had a role in triggering NGC 6193’s formation. And last, but not at all least, NGC 6164, the smaller nebula located in the lower right. This nebula, shows a shape that reminds of a planetary nebula, but it is clearly an emission nebula. Its beauty is enhanced by the presence of a doubly ionized Oxygen envelope that shows up in greenish-blue.
This image has been taken in narrowband and its central region has been enhanced with a higher resolution narrowband image taken with a 20 inch telescope. The filters have been mapped to natural color and the stars have been taken in RGB.
Additional Information
Object
Name(s): NGC 6188. The Fighting Dragons of Ara
Type: Emission Nebula
RA: 16h 40m 37s
Dec: -48º 34’ 29”
Constellation: Ara
Size (arcmin): 40×24
Magnitude: +5.2
Distance: 3,800 ly
Image
Date: 2017-09-06 thru 2017-09-11
Location: iTelescope.net, SSO near Coonabarabran, NSW Australia
Size (arcmin): 174×179
Telescope: Takahashi TOA 130 f/5.7 and Planewave CDK 20” f/6.8
Camera: SBIG STX16803 (4096x4096pix) in both cases
Guiding: Astrodon MonsterMOAG off-axis guider
Total exposure: 27.7 hours (Ha: 5h20m + 9.5h hi-res; OIII: 3h40m + 8h hi-res; RGB 1h12m)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2018