Into the Heart of Gum14

I decided to image Gum14 in LRGB as a first light and use my APM refractor. Gum14 is a large emission nebula that was first catalogued by the famous Australian Astronomer Colin Gum, and is also included in the RCW catalogue as RCW27. Gum 14 is located just north of the Vela SNR, and so is not as often imaged compared to its famous neighbour. Within Gum 14 there are numerous molecular clouds, and a number of reflection nebula, including the beautiful NGC2626. It also the site of active star formation, and if you look closely there are a few Herbig Haro objects. These are small nebulas caused by jets of ionised gas being ejected by newly forming stars interacting with surrounding gas clouds.