Frank AdlerThe Flying Bat & Squid Nebulae<br>
========================<br>
<br>
The Flying Bat Nebula, cataloged as Sh2-129, is a large, relatively faint emission nebula located in the constellation Cepheus, about 2,300 light-years from Earth. It lies close to the brighter and more commonly imaged IC 1396 nebula, home of the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula and spans over 2.5 degrees across the sky — about five times the apparent diameter of the full Moon — making it visually impressive but challenging to observe due to its faintness.<br>
<br>
Sh2-129 is primarily an H-alpha emission nebula, meaning its reddish glow is produced by ionized hydrogen atoms. Inside Sh2-129 is the remarkable Squid Nebula (Ou4), emitting a striking blue-green light due to doubly ionized oxygen (O-III), forming a very faint, bipolar structure that stretches nearly 50 light-years in length.<br>
<br>
HR 8119, the bright star at the center of Ou4, is a hot, massive triple star system and may have launched the outflow that created the Squid Nebula approximately 90,000 years ago. This region also contains a small mixed emission and reflection nebula, vdB 140, further adding to its complexity.<br>
<br>
Scope: Askar 103APO<br>
Lens: Askar 0.6x Reducer<br>
Camera: ZWO ASI 294MC Pro<br>
Filter: Antlia TriBand RGB Ultra<br>
Mount: Skywatcher AZ-EQ5 GT<br>
Guiding: Svbony SV165 Guide Scope with ZWO ASI 224MC<br>
Controller: ZWO ASIAir Pro<br>
<br>
Integration time: 22hrs 20min<br>
<br>
Full version and print available at: <br>
<a href="https://adfr.io/astro/20250615_sh2-129" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://adfr.io/astro/20250615_sh2-129</a><br>
<br>
<a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/astrophotography?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#astrophotography</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/astrophoto?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#astrophoto</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/astrophotographer?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#astrophotographer</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/deepsky?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#deepsky</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/deepskyphotography?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#deepskyphotography</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/deepskyobject?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#deepskyobject</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/deepskyastrophotography?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#deepskyastrophotography</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/squidnebula?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#squidnebula</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/flyingbatnebula?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#flyingbatnebula</a>