IC 410 is a dusty emission nebula located in the constellation of Auriga at about 12.000 ly from Earth. It is part of a larger star forming region that also contains the Flaming Star Nebula. The gas structures in this picture are lit by the radiation from the open star cluster NGC 1893 that lies in the center of the nebula. This star cluster is about 4 million years old, but in astronomical terms it is still very young, with hot, massive stars. At the top-left of the star cluster two more dense structures are visible. These are similar to the famous Pillar of Creation and they are composed of dust and gas leftover from the formation of the star cluster and are very likely to give birth to more stars in the future. As can be seen in the picture, these structures point away from the center of the nebula. This is because of the stellar winds and radiation pressure from the stars in NGC 1893. Due to these structure’s shape, the nebula is also called the Tadpoles. The first picture is a rendition of narrowband exposures and is a false color map of the nebula. The second picture has the more classic RGB mapping and is a more accurate presentation of IC 410.
IC 410 in the Hubble Palette
Telescope: 16″ f3.75 Dream Scope
Camera: FLI ML16803
Mount: ASA DDM85
Exposure: 9 hours (40x300s SII + 42x300s Ha + 28x300s OIII)
Date: November 2018 – October 2019
Location: Southern Alps, France
IC 410 in RGB Palette with additional narrowband data
Bart Delsaert - Astrophotography 