RCW 130

Also called

Sh 2-10

Coordinates: (352.44°, 2.26°)

[ Catalog | Explorer | SIMBAD ]

This mysterious nebula, catalogued as RCW 130 and Sh 2-10, lies in the direction of the Sco OB4 association. Two Wolf-Rayet stars, WR 86 and WR 88, are visible towards its edge.


There is little visible in IRAS or MSX infrared but there is significant radio emission in this direction.

You can see this nebula in the context of the bright stars in the Sco OB4 association here.

Avedisova lists three ionising stars: the O8 III giant HD 155806, the O9 IV subgiant HD 155889 and the B1 V main sequence star HD 155754. Curiously, Sharpless mentions none of these as ionising stars, listing the O-star HD 156327 instead. SIMBAD says that this last star is in fact the Wolf-Rayet star WR 86.

The RCW catalog adds the not-very-helpful note that RCW 130 "Appears to be a more concentrated region of a large area of diffuse emission".

A 1973 paper notes that Sh 2-10 appears in the same direction as the Wolf-Rayet star WR 88 (LS 4068). [1]

However, both Avedisova and Russeil gives distance estimates of about 1000 parsecs for Sh 2-10, and the best distance estimate for WR 88 is 2330 parsecs. WR 86 does not fare any better - the distance estimate for it is 2860 parsecs. It appears that neither of these Wolf-Rayet stars is associated with this nebula unless it is more than twice as distant as the available estimates suggest.

There seems to be no high quality images of Sh 2-10 currently available. This SuperCOSMOS image (unfortunately bisected by an obvious plate boundary) reveals the full extent of this large faint nebula.

Notes

 1. ^ Johnson, Hugh M. (1973). "Luminous Stars in the Cores of H II Regions", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 85, 586. [1973PASP...85..586J]

Distance estimates

1000 pc [2003A&A...397..133R]
1100 pc +/- 200 [1984NInfo..56...59A]

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RCW 130


Most of the sources used to create these nebula descriptions are listed in the notes section for each description. In some cases, for example the Avedisova, Humphreys and Reed catalogs, the source is used extensively and is not listed in the individual nebula descriptions. See this catalog overview for more information on the catalogs and the general sources used to create these descriptions and this introduction to HII regions on the general history of this area of astronomy.

This image was 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.