The RCW Catalog
Click on the small images to see larger ones.
Navigate to nebula [ Previous | Next ]
[ 1 | 11 | 21 | 31 | 41 | 51 | 61 | 71 | 81 | 91 | 101 | 111 | 121 | 131 | 141 | 151 | 161 | 171 | 181 ]RCW 91
[ See details ]
SIMBAD lists the infrared star association [MCM2005b] 60 in this direction.
The HII regions RCW 91 and 92 are part of the same structure according to the Georgelins.
You can see this nebula best in this Spitzer infrared image.
RCW 92
[ See details ]
Dutra says that the infrared cluster [DBS2003] 93 is deeply embedded in RCW 92.
RCW 91 and 92 are part of the same structure according to the Georgelins.
This Spitzer infrared image shows that the nebula consists of two distinct bubbles.
RCW 93
[ See details ]
RCW 94
[ See details ]
The Georgelins also associate LSS 3386 with RCW 94, and give a class of O6 and a distance of 2300 parsecs. They place RCW 94 and RCW 95 at the same distance of 2300 parsecs, implying but not explicitly stating that it is the ionising star.
According to a 2001 paper by McClure-Griffiths and colleagues, RCW 94, RCW 95 and G326.65+0.59 are all part of the same complex at 3100 pc. RCW 94 is surrounded by an expanding HI shell and a giant molecular cloud.
You can see the large bubble around RCW 94 in this Spitzer infrared image.
RCW 95
[ See details ]
Avedisova identifies no ionising star but places RCW 95 in star formation region SFR 326.61+0.82 with 21 components, including 9 masers and the HII region IRAS 15411-5352.
A 2009 paper identifies two ionising stars for the infrared source IRAS 15408-5356, which that paper identifies with RCW 95. These are the O5.5 V [BKH2005] 15408nr1410 and the O9.5 V [BKH2005] 15408nr1454. It gives a distance estimate of 1300 +/- 200 parsecs for the ionising cluster.
According to a 2001 paper by McClure-Griffiths and colleagues, RCW 94, RCW 95 and G326.65+0.59 are all part of the same complex at 3100 pc. There is a massive infrared star cluster associated with RCW 95.
However, a look at the this Spitzer infrared image clearly shows that RCW 95 is associated with a small bubble (not a large cluster) that is above IRAS 15408-5356 and to the left of RCW 94. (The marker for the Avedisova star formation region associated with RCW 95 actually appears in between RCW 94 and RCW 95, not in the exact direction of the nebula itself.) The 2001 and 2009 papers mentioned above appear to misidentify RCW 95 with the much larger IRAS 15408-5356.
A search of SIMBAD around the actual coordinates of RCW 95 as given in the RCW catalog reveals that the O7 V star [OM80] 123 lies in this direction, so this might be the ionising star. The Georgelins give a distance estimate of 3300 parsecs for [OM80] 123.
RCW 96
[ See details ]
No ionising star for RCW 96 is listed in the scientific literature (indeed the only paper that mentions it beyond the RCW catalog is a 1994 paper by the Georgelins and colleagues.)
This MSX infrared image reveals a bubble-like structure.
RCW 97
[ See details ]
Avedisova lists the ionising stars for RCW 97 and RCW 98 together in her 1984 paper (although she places these nebulae in separate star formation regions in her 2002 catalog). These include the O9.5 V star CP -54 6791 and 4 B-class stars. SIMBAD says that CP -54 6791 is the ionising star for RCW 98.
Avedisova places RCW 97 in star formation region SFR 327.04-0.54 with 16 components, including 4 masers.
The brightest portion of the infrared image is not far from the brightest visual region of the nebula as seen in hydrogen-alpha. According to Dutra and colleagues, the infrared cluster [DBS2003] 146 is deeply embedded in this infrared source at 3400 parsecs.
Dutra and colleagues place [DBS2003] 146 in their catalog of nebulae associated with "radio/infrared nebulae" rather than "optical nebulae", however from the position of the cluster it appears that this may be a mistake and in fact [DBS2003] 146 is associated with RCW 97.
RCW 98
[ See details ]
You can view a good image of the Coffee Bean nebula in visible light on this astrophotography site.
RCW 99
[ See details ]
Avedisova lists 5 ionising stars, including the hot O5 III giant LSS 3443, the O9.5 II giant CP -53 6950 and 3 B-class supergiants. She places the nebula in star formation region SFR 328.60-0.51 along with the star cluster Trumpler 23.
The Georgelins give an O7 III class for LSS 3443 and SIMBAD lists it as a B-class star. A 2006 paper gives an age of 700 milion years and a distance of 2200 parsecs for Trumpler 23, raising some doubts as to whether this cluster can really be associated with RCW 99.
Dutra says that the infrared cluster [DBS2003] 98 is deeply embedded in RCW 99.
RCW 99 is an intensely bright infrared source as can be seen in this Spitzer image.
RCW 100
[ See details ]
You can see a good image and more information on the ESO website.
Navigate to nebula [ Previous | Next ]
[ 1 | 11 | 21 | 31 | 41 | 51 | 61 | 71 | 81 | 91 | 101 | 111 | 121 | 131 | 141 | 151 | 161 | 171 | 181 ]
map | book | blog | gallery | sources
Alex Rodgers, Colin Campbell, and John Whiteoak, working at Australia's Mount Stromlo observatory under the direction of Dutch-American astronomer Bart Bok, published their nebula catalog in 1960. The RCW catalog is largely an expansion of Colin Gum's 1955 catalog. Although astronomers publish articles referring to the RCW nebulae almost every month, there seems to be few places on the Internet that bring together information on these nebulae as a whole - unlike, for example, the Messier catalog. This is most likely because the Messier objects are visible to anyone with a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. Most of the RCW objects are clearly visible only in long exposure CCD images or photographic plates taken by large telescopes. Fortunately some of these plates have now been digitally scanned and made publicly available.
Many of the brightest and most beautiful Milky Way star formation regions visible from the southern hemisphere are in the RCW catalog so the 182 objects it contains are well worth examining carefully. (In fact there are more than 182 objects as subsequent research has shown that some of the RCW nebulae consist of more than one object.) At least 50 objects in the RCW catalog are also in the Sharpless catalog and I have noted this in the descriptions of these objects.
Most of the images used to illustrate the RCW catalog were created using the
SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey, with red = hydrogen-alpha,
blue = UKST Blue and green = UKST Infrared. Because green represents infrared, the images are not quite
the same as would be seen at purely visual frequencies. Green in these images usually reveals warm dust or red giant stars.
These images were created using the POSS-II/UKSTU data of the
Digitized Sky Survey and
SuperCOSMOS
using the process described here.
According to my correspondence with the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and the Space Telescope Science Institute,
I am allowed to use the POSS-II/UKSTU data to
create and display images for non-commercial purposes
so long as I include this fine print for the SuperCOSMOS data:
Use of these images is courtesy of the UK Schmidt Telescope (copyright in
which is owned by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council of
the UK and the Anglo-Australian Telescope Board) and the Southern Sky Survey
as created by the SuperCOSMOS measuring machine and are reproduced here
with permission from the Royal Observatory Edinburgh.
and this acknowledgement taken from the DSS site:
The Digitized Sky Surveys were produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under
U.S. Government grant NAG W-2166. The images of these surveys are based on photographic
data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope.
The plates were processed into the present compressed digital form with the permission of these institutions.
The Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-II) was made by the
California Institute of Technology with funds from the National Science Foundation,
the National Geographic Society, the Sloan Foundation, the Samuel Oschin Foundation,
and the Eastman Kodak Corporation.
The UK Schmidt Telescope was operated by the Royal Observatory Edinburgh,
with funding from the UK Science and Engineering Research Council
(later the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council), until 1988 June,
and thereafter by the Anglo-Australian Observatory. The blue plates of the southern Sky Atlas
and its Equatorial Extension (together known as the SERC-J), as well as the Equatorial Red (ER),
and the Second Epoch [red] Survey (SES) were all taken with the UK Schmidt.
The "Second Epoch Survey" of the southern sky was made by the
Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO) with the UK Schmidt Telescope.
Plates from this survey have been digitized and compressed by the ST ScI.
The digitized images are copyright © 1993-5 by the Anglo-Australian Observatory Board,
and are distributed herein by agreement.
The "Equatorial Red Atlas" of the southern sky was made with the UK Schmidt Telescope.
Plates from this survey have been digitized and compressed by the ST ScI.
The digitized images are copyright © 1992-5, jointly by the UK SERC/PPARC
(Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council,
formerly Science and Engineering Research Council) and the Anglo-Australian Telescope Board,
and are distributed herein by agreement.
The compressed files of the "Palomar Observatory - Space Telescope Science Institute Digital Sky Survey"
of the northern sky, based on scans of the Second Palomar Sky Survey are copyright © 1993-1995 by the
California Institute of Technology and are distributed herein by agreement.
The compressed files of the "Palomar Observatory - Space Telescope Science Institute Digital Sky Survey"
of the northern sky, based on scans of the Second Palomar Sky Survey are copyright © 1993-1995
by the California Institute of Technology and are distributed herein by agreement.