RCW 1a
Also called
Sh 2-297, Gum 3Coordinates: (225.47°, -2.58°)
[ Catalog | Explorer | SIMBAD ]
This HII region and reflection nebula is located at the tip of the right wing of the Seagull nebula. It is also known as the reflection nebula VDB 94. It is located next to the cold dark nebula LDN 1657A.
Avedisova lists 5 possible ionising stars, including the O7.5 V star HD 53975, the O9.5 V star HD 54879 and the B1 II/III star HD 53623. (SIMBAD gives the class of HD 53975 as B7, too cool to be an ionising star. SIMBAD may be incorrect, however.) She places Sh 2-297 in star formation region SFR 224.20-1.60 with other parts of the Seagull nebula.
You can find good images of both the head and the wings of the Seagull nebula here and here and read a detailed commentary on the Seagull (230° - 220°) sector, which is part of the Commentary on the Galactic Plane.
You can see more of the surrounding nebulosity in this image by Dean Salman and more detail in the nebula itself in this image by Adam Block.
Avedisova lists 5 possible ionising stars, including the O7.5 V star HD 53975, the O9.5 V star HD 54879 and the B1 II/III star HD 53623. (SIMBAD gives the class of HD 53975 as B7, too cool to be an ionising star. SIMBAD may be incorrect, however.) She places Sh 2-297 in star formation region SFR 224.20-1.60 with other parts of the Seagull nebula.
You can find good images of both the head and the wings of the Seagull nebula here and here and read a detailed commentary on the Seagull (230° - 220°) sector, which is part of the Commentary on the Galactic Plane.
You can see more of the surrounding nebulosity in this image by Dean Salman and more detail in the nebula itself in this image by Adam Block.
Notes
Links
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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.