The Omega or Swan nebula is named for the telescopic view - which shows only the brighter central portion and appears like a swan or the Greek Omega symbol. This is a deep exposure to capture the wonderful outer regions of faint nubulosity.
This fine nebula lies just about 2 degrees from the Eagle nebula (M16) and is located within the same spiral arm of the Milky Way.
While not particularly bright, this nebula is a very acrtive star forming region, with a mass of over 800 Suns - more than the star forming region of the Orion Nebula.
The top photo shows M17 close up, while bottom shows the full 35mm frame. It's a nice object to photograph with lots of good guidestars nearby.
The bottom photo is the same slide, but using Adobe Photoshop to bring out the very faint parts of M17 that do not show up very well. You just barely see that there is some faint nebulosity in the second photo, but the bottom result shows just how much more bto this nebula really exists!
M17 The Omega or Swan Nebula in Sagittarius (NGC6618)
