IC 4703 Eagle Nebula
Author: Rita Castilho
Date: July 2023
Location: Funcho (Portugal), Bortle 4
Telescope: 200/1000 Newtonian
Camera: ZWO ASI 294 MC
Filters: Optolong L-eNhance
Integration time: 1h 21m
IC 4703 Eagle Nebula
Author: Rita Castilho
Date: July 2023
Location: Funcho (Portugal), Bortle 4
Telescope: 200/1000 Newtonian
Camera: ZWO ASI 294 MC
Filters: Optolong L-eNhance
Integration time: 1h 21m
Distance from Earth: 7,000 light-years
It is a star-forming region located in the constellation Serpens. Composed of vast clouds of gas and dust, it harbors the young open cluster NGC 6611, whose massive stars ionize and shape the surrounding material. The nebula became particularly famous for the "Pillars of Creation"—enormous columns of molecular gas where new stars continue to form. These pillars are sculpted by intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from the cluster's young stars.