In this remarkable first light image from the newly commissioned TI45 450mm telescope, the complex star-forming region NGC 6357, also known as the Lobster Nebula—unfolds in stunning SHO detail. Captured at f/4 using a Moravian C3 camera mounted on a PlaneWave L500, the image showcases the intense emission from sulfur (red), hydrogen (green), and oxygen (blue) with a narrowband palette, revealing a turbulent environment of glowing gas, dark dust pillars, and emerging star clusters. At the heart of the nebula lies the open cluster Pismis 24, home to some of the most massive stars known in our galaxy.

Spanning nearly 400 light-years across in the constellation Scorpius and located about 5,500 light-years away, NGC 6357 is a hotbed of stellar birth, shaped by the fierce winds and radiation of its young, massive stars. This 71-hour integration represents not just an astrophotographic milestone for the instrument's debut but a deep dive into the raw power of stellar feedback sculpting the interstellar medium.