Sh2-264 — Angelfish Nebula
HII Region in Orion
About
The Angelfish Nebula, or Lambda Orionis Ring, a huge faint ring of glowing hydrogen around Meissa, the star at Orion's head. Meissa is about 1,100 light-years away, and the ring is not visible in binoculars or small telescopes. It shows up only in long exposures.
Imaging tips
- About 420′ across, so use a wide lens: 60–100 mm on APS-C (90–150 mm full frame). One imager's 85 mm lens covered 12° × 8°.
- That imager combined 22 × 600 s of Hα (6 nm filter) with 9 × 600 s of RGB, 310 minutes in all.
- The ring is an emission nebula, so Hα or other narrowband data suits it.
- Cr69, the cluster around Meissa, sits at the centre; Barnard 30 and Barnard 35 are parts of the ring.
- Best in December; it peaks near 50° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 420′
- Magnitude
- —
- Coordinates
- RA 5h 35.0m, Dec +9° 56′
- Framing, APS-C
- 60–100 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 90–150 mm
- Best months
- Dec
- Peak altitude
- 50° from 50°N, 65° from 35°N