Sharpless 2-261
| Constellation: | Orion |
| Magnitude: | +10.0 |
| Apparent size: | 30′ x 15′ |
| Diameter: | 25.6 light years. |
| Distance: | 2,900 light years. |
I took a chance on a 30% cloudy pre-sunset evening. The weather has not been suitable for astronomy recently at all and I’ll take what I can get. After it got dark – and just as my preliminary set up calibrations were completed – it swiftly clouded over.
I’m still imaging from home, despite the relatively low covid risk here in Australia, so I waited patiently and hopefully.
Lo and behold! around 10.30 pm the clouds abruptly dissipated – completely. 😁
So I got an hour and a half of data on Lower’s Nebula, Sh2-261, which is an emission nebula of ionised hydrogen gas, located about 9° north of the red giant star Betelgeuse.
Lower’s Nebula was not discovered until 1939, despite it’s relatively bright +10.0 magnitude.
The bright star (far left) is f1 Orionis, a Class B star visible to the naked eye at 4.96 magnitude.
| Feature image date: | 2021-02-06 |
| Exposure: | 100 minutes (28 stacked frames @ 215.6 sec) |
| Field of View: | 1.59° x 1.06° (up is 23.2 degrees E of N) |
Location:
Courtesy: nova.astrometry.net
Courtesy: nova.astrometry.net
If the Astrometry images do not appear it is because the Astrometry website is sometimes off line.
Telescope Details
| SkyWatcher Esprit 120 mm apochromatic 3-element refractor; 840 mm f/l @ f/7. |
| Field flattener; ZWO Duo-band Hα (656nm) and OIII (500nm) filter. |
| SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro mount; ZWO ASI120 guide camera. |
| Imaging camera: ZWO ASI 071 MC Pro (CMOS 28.4mm 16 Mpx). |
| Software: EQMOD, PHD2, SharpCap, Gimp. |
| Observatory location: 34° South. |
Images © Roger Powell
I’m a founder member of Macarthur Astronomical Society
Cosmic Focus 
That’s really beautiful. I love how understated and delicate it is. Nice going.
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Thanks very much, Scott.
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“weather has not been suitable for astronomy recently” – understatement worldwide right now, apparently
Another wonderful and vivid image!
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Thanks. Starlight is a scarce commodity these days.
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Wow, I’m so glad the clouds let you capture this brilliant image! The color is so vivid. 😃
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Thanks for your encouragement. 🙂
That was ten days ago and I’ve not seen a star since – day or night! 😟
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Uh-oh, I guess the clouds got clingy. 😦
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I watched the recording on Facebook of the Southern Sky Livestream with Dr Ángel R. López-Sánchez. It was interesting to see some objects not visible to me up north.
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Ángel is one of those rare professional astronomers who is also a very enthusiastic hands on backyard astronomer and accomplished astro-photographer, devoting a lot of his time to public outreach astronomy. Sometimes I wonder if he ever sleeps!
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