Curving gracefully through the southern constellation of Carina, NGC 3199, often called the Banana Nebula—glows amid a sea of interstellar dust and gas. This wind-blown bubble of ionized gas surrounds a massive Wolf–Rayet star, whose fierce stellar winds carve and illuminate the nebula’s distinctive arc. Nearby, the faint planetary nebula PK 283 lies quietly within the same field, adding to the region’s rich tapestry of emission and reflection.

Captured under the pristine Kalahari skies of Namibia, this image was taken with a Takahashi FSQ-106 astrograph and an ASI 2600MC camera paired with an Optolong L-Ultimate filter. The final result, composed of thirty 420-second exposures, reveals both the vivid structure of NGC 3199 and the subtle background clouds where new stars are forming.

Image Description and Details : NGC 3199 or more commonly known as the Banana Nebula is a crescent-shaped cocoon of dust and gas approximately 12,000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Carina. The banana/crescent shaped nebula is a 'bow shock' associated with a Wolf-Rayet star (HD 89358)
79 x 600s subs shot @-10C taken over 3 nights using 3nm narrowband filters for an integration time of 13.2 hours.

Equipment used:
Skywatcher 10" f4 Newtonian 250P
Skywatcher F4 Aplanatic Coma Corrector
Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro Hypertuned by Astronomy Academy Perth
Primaluce Sesto Senso2 Electronic Focuser
ZWO ASI183MM Pro Cooled Camera
ZWO Off Axis Guider
ZWO ASI290MM Mini Guide Camera
ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel
Antlia 3nm Narrowband 36mm unmounted filters
Rollon rolloff modified shed observatory
Bortle 5
Data acquisition software: NINA Astronomy Software
Processing software: PixInsight and Photoshop CC

Copyright: Carlos Taylor