The Sharpless Catalog

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Sh 2-291

Coordinates: (220.52°, -2.77°)
Distance: 8500 pc, Size: 19.8 pc
Source: 2003A&A...397..133R

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-291

Wouterloot and Brand give a distance of 7950 pc for Sh 2-291, based on velocity measurements of CO in the direction of the infrared source IRAS 06529-0755. Avedisova associates Sh 2-291 with the carbon star EM Mon and places them both in the star formation region 220.52-2.77.

No ionising star appears to have identified in the scientific literature.

Sh 2-292

Also: RCW 2, Gum 1
Coordinates: (223.70°, -1.89°)
Distance: 1150 pc, Size: 7.0 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-292

The head of the Seagull nebula is both an HII region and reflection nebula (VDB 93). It is part of the CMa OB1 association and is ionised by the B0IV:e subgiant HD 53367, a young 20 solar mass star orbitted by a 5 solar mass companion in a highly elliptical orbit.

Sh 2-293

Coordinates: (224.17°, -2.87°)
Distance: 1150 pc, Size: 3.7 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-293

According to Avedisova, Sh 2-293 is ionised by the B2 III giant HD 52721. She places it in star formation region SFR 224.20-1.60 with other parts of the Seagull nebula.

You can read a detailed commentary on the Seagull (230° - 220°) sector, which is part of the Commentary on the Galactic Plane.

Sh 2-294

Also: RCW 3
Coordinates: (224.19°, 1.22°)
Distance: 4600 pc, Size: 9.4 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-294

This HII region contains the loose infrared star cluster [BDS2003] 95. This oddly shaped nebula looks like an upside down octopus - should it perhaps be called the Octopus nebula?

Sh 2-295

Coordinates: (224.40°, -2.75°)
Distance: 1150 pc, Size: 2.7 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-295

A small HII region connected to the Seagull nebula complex.

Sh 2-296

Also: RCW 1, Gum 2
Coordinates: (224.53°, -1.96°)
Distance: 1150 pc, Size: 66.9 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-296

This large nebula forms the wings of the Seagull Nebula.

Sh 2-297

Also: Gum 3
Coordinates: (225.47°, -2.58°)
Distance: 1150 pc, Size: 2.3 pc
Source: 1982ApJS...49..183B

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-297

This is also a reflection nebula Vdb 94 and is associated with the B1 II/III star HD 53623.

Sh 2-298

Also: RCW 5
Coordinates: (227.75°, -0.15°)
Distance: 5000 pc, Size: 32.0 pc
Source: 2001AJ....121.2664C

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-298

Nicknamed Thor's Helmut, this nebula (also called NGC 2359) is a wind blown bubble ionized by the W-R star WR 7 (HD 56925).

Sh 2-299

Coordinates: (230.98°, 1.49°)
Distance: 4200 pc, Size: 1.2 pc
Source: 1995A&AS..114..557R

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-299

S299, S300, S305, S306, S307 and S309 are all part of the same giant molecular cloud complex at 4200 pc.

Sh 2-300

Coordinates: (231.12°, 1.52°)
Distance: 4200 pc, Size: 3.7 pc
Source: 1995A&AS..114..557R

[ Find on map | See details ] 		Sh 2-300

S299, S300, S305, S306, S307 and S309 are all part of the same giant molecular cloud complex at 4200 pc.


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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.