SH2-101

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Date:
2017/06/22

Observation place
My permanent observatory in Longueuil
in white light pollution zone

Technical

TelescopeCelestron Edge HD - Dia. 203mm (8 ''), focal length 2032mm, f / 10
MountCelestron CGEM
Focal reducerf / 6,3 (63%)
Imaging cameraAtik 383 L + monochrome regulated at -20o Celsius
Autoguiding cameraZWO ASI 120MM with one optical splitter
Auto Guidance Accuracy (RMS)1,62 '' of arc (2,24 '' of arc in total)
Image typeHa (Ha-OIII-OIII)
ExhibitionHa (10 x 10 'bin 2 × 2), OIII (10 x 10' Bin 2 × 2)
Image acquisition softwareMaxim DL
Guidance softwarePHD Guiding 2
PretreatmentMaxim DL
TreatmentPhotoshop and PixInsight

Object description

Object typeEmission nebula "The Tulip Nebula"
ConstellationSwan
Visual magnitude+9
Distance6000 light years
Diameter10,8 light years
Dimension seen from Earth16 x 9 arc minutes 
SH2-101 is an emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. It is called the Tulip Nebula because it looks like a tulip in astronomical photos. It was cataloged by astronomer Stewart Sharpless in his 1959 catalog of nebulae. It is located at a distance of about 6000 light years from the earth. Its diameter is about 10,8 light years.  

It is a rather dark nebula (magnitude of more than 9) which is hardly visible in a telescope, even of large diameter. We manage to solve it better on astronomical photos.  

In my image, which was taken at my personal observatory located in a sky of significant light pollution (gray and white areas), I managed to resolve the tulip nebula very well (which is on the right side of the l 'image) by using narrow band filters Ha and OIII. These precisely capture the luminosity of the nebula, which is mostly located outside the light emitted by cities (Montreal and Longueuil). In the image, we can also see very dark nebulosities to the left of the nebula, which still amazes me given the significant light pollution at the observation site.
Richard Beauregard
Sky Astro - CCD
My impression "We cannot be alone in this gigantic universe"