The Sharpless Catalog
Click on the small images to see larger ones.
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Sh 2-142
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According to a 1994 paper, Sh 2-142 is associated with a molecular cloud containing an additional 6-15 thousand solar masses of gas and is part of the Cep OB1 association.
Avedisova adds a second ionising star, the B0 Ib supergiant HD 215806.
This beautiful nebula has sometimes been called the Wizard nebula. However, its scalloped edges suggest more of a clamshell to me than a wizard!
A very different wider scale image of the same nebula can be found here. You can also see infrared version here and a radio version here.
Sh 2-143
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Sh 2-144
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No ionising star for Sh 2-144 has been identified in the scientific literature. Avedisova associates this nebula with the pulsating variable carbon star MV Cep in star formation region 107.66+0.82.
Sh 2-145
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Sh 2-145 appears to be part of the Cepheus bubble, the expanding ring of gas and dust surrounding the star cluster NGC 7160 and the Cep OB2 association. The much brighter nebula Sh 2-131 is part of the same structure.
Sh 2-146
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Sh 2-147
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Sh 2-147, Sh 2-148, and Sh 2-149 form one of the two cores of the 105 thousand solar mass molecular cloud [UUT2000] Cloud A. (The other core is associated with Sh 2-152 and Sh 2-153.) This molecular cloud may be interacting with the supernova remnant SNR G109.1-01.0 (CTB 109).
The molecular cloud can be seen in this MSX infrared image. The same field at radio frequencies reveals the supernova remnant.
Sh 2-148
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Avedisova combines Sh 2-147, Sh 2-148 and Sh 2-149 into the star formation region SFR 108.27-1.07, which is ionised by two uncatalogued O8 V and B0 V stars and includes the star cluster King 10 and the young stellar object 2MASX J22555978+5814424.
Sh 2-147, Sh 2-148, and Sh 2-149 form one of the two cores of the 105 thousand solar mass molecular cloud [UUT2000] Cloud A. (The other core is associated with Sh 2-152 and Sh 2-153.) This molecular cloud may be interacting with the supernova remnant SNR G109.1-01.0 (CTB 109).
The molecular cloud can be seen in this MSX infrared image. The same field at radio frequencies reveals the supernova remnant.
Sh 2-149
[ See details ]
Sh 2-147, Sh 2-148, and Sh 2-149 form one of the two cores of the 105 thousand solar mass molecular cloud [UUT2000] Cloud A. (The other core is associated with Sh 2-152 and Sh 2-153.) This molecular cloud may be interacting with the supernova remnant SNR G109.1-01.0 (CTB 109).
The molecular cloud can be seen in this MSX infrared image. The same field at radio frequencies reveals the supernova remnant.
Sh 2-150
[ See details ]
You can see a beautiful photograph of this faint nebula here.
Sh 2-150 appears to be part of the Cepheus bubble, the expanding ring of gas and dust surrounding the star cluster NGC 7160 and the Cep OB2 association. The much brighter nebula Sh 2-131 is part of the same structure.
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Stewart Sharpless published the second and final version of his famous nebula catalog in 1959. Although astronomers publish articles referring to the Sharpless 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 Sharpless objects are clearly visible only in CCD images or in 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 northern hemisphere are in the Sharpless catalog so the 313 objects it contains are well worth examining carefully. (In fact there are more than 313 objects as subsequent research has shown that some of the Sharpless nebulae consist of more than one object.) Although the Sharpless catalog is only intended to be complete for objects visible north of declination -27 degrees, a similar catalog covering the southern hemisphere was published by Alex Rodgers, Colin Campbell, and John Whiteoak in 1960, which is largely an expansion of Colin Gum's earlier catalog. You can visit a gallery of these RCW nebulae here. At least 50 objects in the Sharpless catalog are also in the RCW catalog and I have noted this in the descriptions of these objects.
Most of the images used to illustrate the Sharpless catalog were created using the POSS-II/UKSTU data of the
Digitized Sky Survey, or, where available, the more detailed
SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey. In both cases, 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.