Sharpless 2-174

Sharpless 2-174

Old Planetary Nebula in Cepheus

Constellation: Cepheus
Ra: 23hr 47m 8s
Dec: +80d 49m 22s
Distance: 930 light years
Image Size: 35' x 35'
North: Up

Enlarge

Description

Sh2-174 is an older planetary nebula near Cepheus and Polaris located at RA 23hr 47m 8s and DEC+80d 49m 22s (center of this image). It is reported that the white dwarf proginator star, GD561, has drifted away from the center of the nebula, but both are approximately 930 light years distant. The object is very faint in RGB, and 11 hous of 3 nm H-a and OIII were used to bring out structural details. A bright OIII region appears toward the upper right, as well as a more extended OIII halo further out, possibly from an early expulsive event. Some structure also is apparent in the H-a region, which represents the shape of a horseshoe.The small mag 16.1 spiral galaxy toward the lower left of the image is PGC278942.

Exposure: 16 hrs Total: 11 hrs H-a, OIII; 5 hrs RGB
Telescope: RCOS 16
Mount: Software Bisque Paramount ME
Oag: Astrodon MonsterMOAG
Acquisition: CCD AutoPilot4
Calibration: CCDStack2
Observatory Site: Sierra-Remote Observatories, Shaver Lake, CA
Camera: Apogee U16M
Filters: Astrodon 3nm OIII, H-a, Gen 2 RGB
Guider: SBIG ST-402
Camera Operation: MaximDL4.62
Processing: Photoshop CS3
Image Date: 07/21/2009 - 08/15/2009

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *