NGC 6729 - Yoda's Walking Stick

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NGC 6729 - Yoda's Walking Stick

[Public Domain] 6 Aug 2024 Dylan O'Donnell
CATEGORY : Astrophotography
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In their 2022 paper “R CrA & cyclic brightness variations in NGC 6729”, Evans & Privett imaged this nebula that looks like Yoda’s head, over a period of two years. Yoda’s right eye here (R CrA) has a period of 65 days where it changes brightness, but they suggest that a light echo ripples over the rest of his head. This is unlike NGC 2261 (Hubble’s Variable Nebula) which appears to pulse from dust shadows that move across the nebula. A light echo is more like watching the light flow like a wave (at c) across the surface of Yoda’s head. They used 300s exposures with a modest refractor (1420mm FL / F7) from “Riverland Dingo Observatory” in South Australia.

Also, I think I did a good job of his walking stick this year. I’ve resolved his fingers!

Celestron 11″ Edge Hd Telescope w/ F7 Reducer 1960mm
SW EQ8-Rh Pro Mount
QHY268M CMOS Camera -5deg C
Red – 89 x 3m
Green – 87 x 3m
Blue – 75  x 3m
Total Integration : 12.5 hours.

Reference https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022JBAA..132…49E/abstract

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