The Sharpless Catalog

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Sh 2-201

Coordinates: (138.50°, 1.60°)
Distance: 3059 pc, Size: 3.6 pc
Source: 2003A&A...397..213P

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-201

A small HII region adjacent to the Soul nebula, Sh 2-199.

Sh 2-202

Coordinates: (140.59°, 1.91°)
Distance: 800 pc, Size: 39.6 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-202

This appears to be the same as or near LBN 679, a large nebula, bright in hydrogen-alpha, rising above the galactic plane, as imaged in radio waves and infrared here.

Sh 2-203

Coordinates: (143.51°, -1.86°)
Distance: 3500 pc, Size: 45.8 pc
Source: 2003A&A...397..133R

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-203

This extended HII region may be ionised by the B class star LS I +55 47. Russeil combines Sh 2-203 (LBN 685) with the better known nebula BFS 31 into one star formation region and derives a distance of 1710 parsecs.

The current distance estimate needs to be corrected.

Sh 2-204

Coordinates: (145.78°, 2.98°)
Distance: 4000 pc, Size: 46.5 pc
Source: 2003A&A...397..133R

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-204

Avedisova says that Sh 2-204 is likely ionised by four O-class stars that are part of the Cam OB3 association at 3600 +/- 500 parsecs and Russeil more recently derived a similar estimate of 3830 +/- 260 parsecs.

Both these estimates place this nebula beyond the Perseus arm and possibly associate it with the Outer arm. However, a 2005 study connects Sh 2-204 to the much closer Cam OB1 association.

Sh 2-205

Coordinates: (148.54°, -0.24°)
Distance: 900 pc, Size: 31.4 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-205

The exciting star for this region is believed to be the O8 star HD 24451.

Sh 2-206

Coordinates: (150.60°, -0.90°)
Distance: 3700 pc, Size: 4.4 pc
Source: 1976A&A....48...63D

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-206

This older, evolved HII region is excited by the O5 star BD +50 886 and is located at a distance of 3700 pc.

Sh 2-207

Coordinates: (151.20°, 2.10°)
Distance: 3400 pc, Size: 4.0 pc
Source: 1991PASP..103..843P

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-207

Despite its appearance, this is an HII region ionised by an O9.5 IV star and not a planetary nebula.

Sh 2-208

Coordinates: (151.32°, 1.99°)
Distance: 7600 pc, Size: 2.2 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-208

Contains the optical cluster Waterloo 1 and the infrared cluster [BDS2003] 64.

Sh 2-209

Coordinates: (151.60°, -0.20°)
Distance: 7816 pc, Size: 7.0 pc
Source: 2003A&A...397..213P

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-209

This dusty Outer arm star formation region contains the young stellar object CPM 12 and the infrared cluster [BDS2003] 65.

Sh 2-210

Coordinates: (152.81°, 2.90°)
Distance: 2200 pc, Size: 12.8 pc
Source: 2003A&A...397..133R

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-210

There is, remarkably, essentially nothing in the scientific literature about this nebula even though it is prominent in hydrogen-alpha and visible at radio and infrared frequencies as well.

Avedisova places Sh 2-210 in star formation region SFR 152.81+2.90 with four infrared sources and the radio source RRF 1605. None of these objects have any scientific references either.

Sh 2-210 lies in the direction of a larger diffuse nebulosity. Sh 2-207, Sh 2-208 and Lynds dark nebula LDN 1407 (Barnard 12) also appear in the direction of this diffuse nebulosity, although apparently are located at different distances.


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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 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.

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.