R Aquarii
R Aquarii is a symbiotic binary surrounded by a large and complex nebula known as Cederblad 211 with a prominent curved jet.
This nebula is roughly 650 years old. R Aquarii is believed to contain a white dwarf and a Mira-type variable in a binary system. The orbital period is approximately 44 years.
The giant primary star is a Mira variable, a star that pulsates and changes temperature, leading to very large visual brightness changes.
In total it varies in brightness by a factor of 750, and with a period of 390 days.
The central region of the jet shows an ejection that took place around 190 years ago, as well as much younger structures
In 2016 Mike Sidonio discovered previously unknown faint outer features from his Terroux Observatory near Canberra, Australia (https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/r_aquarii).
These were featured in a paper by Liimets and collaborators in 2018 (New insights into the outflows from R Aquarii}.
Despite these detections, no clear imaging of these extensions has been produced to date.
We therefore decided to conduct deep imaging from our remote observatories in southern Spain so as to reveal the physical nature of these features.
This nebula is roughly 650 years old. R Aquarii is believed to contain a white dwarf and a Mira-type variable in a binary system. The orbital period is approximately 44 years.
The giant primary star is a Mira variable, a star that pulsates and changes temperature, leading to very large visual brightness changes.
In total it varies in brightness by a factor of 750, and with a period of 390 days.
The central region of the jet shows an ejection that took place around 190 years ago, as well as much younger structures
In 2016 Mike Sidonio discovered previously unknown faint outer features from his Terroux Observatory near Canberra, Australia (https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/r_aquarii).
These were featured in a paper by Liimets and collaborators in 2018 (New insights into the outflows from R Aquarii}.
Despite these detections, no clear imaging of these extensions has been produced to date.
We therefore decided to conduct deep imaging from our remote observatories in southern Spain so as to reveal the physical nature of these features.
TARGET
Nomenclature: R Aquarii, CED 211
Image Right Ascension: 23:43:49.46
Image Declination: -15:17:04.2
EQUIPMENT USED
Twin APM TMB LZOS 152 refractors, Celestron C14 EdgeHD
10Micron GM2000 HPS mount, 10Microm GM3000 HPS mopunt
Twin QSI6120 CCD cameras, ZWO ASI6200MM Pro
Astrodon and Chroma filters
IMAGE CAPTURE
Ha 5nm: 58x900" bin 1x1, 150x120" bin 1x1
OIII 3nm: 57x900" bin 1x1, 570x120" bin 1x1
Red: 34x300" bin 1x1
Green: 18x300" bin 1x1
Blue: 17x300" bin 1x1
Total integration: 58 hours 30 minutes
Pixel scale: 0.533 arcsec/pixel
Field radius: 0.349 degrees
Capture dates: 8 October - 20 December 2023
Capture location: Fregenal de la Sierra, Spain
Ha 5nm: 58x900" bin 1x1, 150x120" bin 1x1
OIII 3nm: 57x900" bin 1x1, 570x120" bin 1x1
Red: 34x300" bin 1x1
Green: 18x300" bin 1x1
Blue: 17x300" bin 1x1
Total integration: 58 hours 30 minutes
Pixel scale: 0.533 arcsec/pixel
Field radius: 0.349 degrees
Capture dates: 8 October - 20 December 2023
Capture location: Fregenal de la Sierra, Spain
IMAGE PROCESSING
Pre-processing: CCDStack2
Post-processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop CS2
Pre-processing: CCDStack2
Post-processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop CS2