COMMENTS BY THE AUTHORS:

This image of M 16 was taken on our site in Southern Portugal (Site astroaro.fr). It was taken very late due to installation delays caused by Covid 19. The shooting period was from 23/08 to 17/10/20. M 16 was already very low (between 30° at the beginning of the night and 20° at the end of the shoot, at this time of the year). However, we decided to try the shots, thinking that we could get a better idea of the quality of the site rather than shooting at the Zénith.

We were delighted with the result and we decided to locate the observatory on this site.

COMMENTS ON THE OBJECT :

 The cluster is made up of young blue stars of types O and B that originate from the Eagle Nebula and ionise the gas in the Eagle Nebula, giving it a characteristic colour in large telescopes. Stars are still being formed. The central region of the nebula shows a beautiful columnar architecture called “Pillars of Creation” since their rediscovery by the space telescope. In these pillars of gas about three light years long, the stars of the cluster are born, hence their name. M 16 is 5500 to 7000 light years away, depending on the source.