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N11 is a large (1,000 light years across) emission nebula located in the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). In the center of this region lies LHA 120-N 11, also called the “Bean Nebula”. It is the whitish region in the center of this image. This region also contains other NGC objects like NGC 1761, the open cluster at the upper left of LHA 120-N11, and NGC 1760 (the bluish-white arc located on the other side of NGC 1761). N11 is considered to be the nebula with the second largest star-birth rate in the LMC (just after the Tarantula Nebula). In fact, the bean nebula is known for having stars that were very recently born. The strong stellar winds generated by these newborns, will totally change the shape and aspect of this region within the next couple of million years. The whitish areas do really have this color. The Oxygen emission is as intense as the Hydrogen one, and the balanced mix of RGB for these filters, provides a neat white. The greenish-blue regions are stronger in Oxygen emission.
Additional Information
Object
Name(s): N11
Type: Emission Nebula
RA: 04h 56m 41s
Dec: -66º 25’ 06”
Constellation: Doradus
Size (arcmin): 26×27
Magnitude: NA
Distance: 170,000 ly
Image
Date: 2015-12-30 to 2016-01-31
Location: iTelescope.net, SSO near Coonabarabran, NSW Australia
Size (arcmin): 37×37
Telescope: Planewave CDK 20” f/6.8
Camera: SBIG STX16803 (4096x4096pix)
Guiding: Astrodon MonsterMOAG off-axis guider
Total exposure: 16 hours (Ha: 7.5 hs; OIII: 7 hs; RGB: 1.5 hs only stars)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2015.5