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View Full Version here: : The Butterfly Nebula - SH2-22


Andy01
27-06-2021, 12:20 PM
Rarely if ever imaged on it's own, this diffuse nebula SH2-22 is located in Sagittarius, close by it's famous neighbour - M8.
This is a ring nebula surrounding the O8 III giant 63 Ophiuchi (HD 162978), which lies at the edge of the Sgr OB1 association in the Sagittarius arm.

Reminiscent of butterfly wings, the nebula is rich in Ha and less so in S2. The bright central star is 63 Ophiuchi.

I attempted gathering O3 data but nothing showed up after an hour, so I have created a bicolour image - Ha>Blue & S2>red with added LUM & RGB stars in the mix. :)

Wikipedia mentions the following... 63 Ophiuchi is an O-type giant star in the constellation Sagittarius. In 1983, astronomers from the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow, Russia identified a faint, shell-shaped nebula surrounding the star that was being excited by the star's energy. Named Sharpless 22, this ring-shaped nebula has a double-shell structure with an inner envelope spanning 45–50′ (9–18 pc), surrounded by a diffuse envelope some 65–80′ (14–29 pc) across. At an estimated mass loss rate of (6–8) × 10−6 M☉/yr, it would take the star about (1–5) × 105 years to produce such a nebula from the outflow of its stellar wind.

ASTROBIN (https://www.astrobin.com/full/2axmsv/0/)

Taken from my Bortle 6-7 light polluted backyard in Melbourne.

gregbradley
27-06-2021, 12:30 PM
Wonderful! All these new objects being imaged lately has been great. Nice to have something new.

Greg.

strongmanmike
27-06-2021, 07:07 PM
I see the butterfly Andy, lovely bit of nebulosity that, well done :thumbsup:

Mike

Andy01
27-06-2021, 08:01 PM
Cheers Greg, ‘tis fun to veer off the well trodden path sometimes. This was a challenge to process though, with no O3 present & the very feint S2 required binning 2x2. :)



Hey Mike, I appreciate the good vibes, thanks for calling by. :thanx:

Ryderscope
27-06-2021, 10:17 PM
An excellent rendition displayed in much splendor :thumbsup:

Ant0nio
27-06-2021, 10:50 PM
Nice one Andy, I've been curious about the numerous Sharpless objects I see in Stellarium that don't have an image, so well done for bringing this one out of obscurity :thumbsup:.
Cheers,
Tony

AdamJL
28-06-2021, 08:12 AM
Angel Wings!
Love it

JA
28-06-2021, 08:54 AM
Wonderful image Andy:thumbsup:
I really like the way the central star is framed by the clear "hole" in the colourful nebulosity immediately around it.

Best
JA

Andy01
28-06-2021, 09:42 AM
Thanks Rodney, this was a challenge to map colours that showed both elements in an aesthetically pleasing manner, glad you liked it! :D



Cheers Tony, I look for interesting shapes presented in Ha on Galaxy map. Sometimes they make appealing images, some not so much. :lol:



Cheers! :D Mind you, if anyone watched Vikings, they kind of resemble a "Blood Eagle" too. :scared3:



Thanks JA, it appears that central star is responsible for creating the whole thing. :)
Kinda wish I had my new 0.7x reducer though for a wider FOV, but it's still on backorder :(

CoolhandJo
28-06-2021, 11:12 AM
Thumbs up for the colour mapping! great image.

AdamJL
28-06-2021, 11:14 AM
You just had to go and ruin it didn’t you?! :P

Andy01
28-06-2021, 11:27 AM
Cheers Paul! Thanks for calling by :)



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