The Omega Nebula, M17 (NGC 6618)

The Omega Nebula, M17 (NGC6618), as seen by the KPNO 0.9-meter telescope in 1993 (true color CCD image). M17 is a bright nebula with lanes of opaque dust; it is also referred to as the Swan Nebula and the Horseshoe Nebula. M17 is about 5700 light-years away in the direction of Sagittarius, and contains about 800 solar masses of material within its 17-light-year diameter. We also have optical pictures from the KPNO Schmidt and the KPNO Mayall 4-meter telescopes, an emission line image from the KPNO Schmidt, revealing physical conditions in the nebula, and an interesting infrared image from the KPNO 2.1-meter telescope.