Sh2-279 — Running Man Nebula
Reflection Nebula in Orion
About
A cluster of three NGC nebulae in Orion's Sword, some 1,500 light-years from us, lying about 0.6° above M42 in the sky. The hot star 42 Orionis lights it, and Hubble found six protoplanetary disks here being boiled off by that star's ultraviolet light.
Imaging tips
- It measures about 20′ × 10′, so on APS-C it needs 1210–2020 mm; M42 is about 0.6° off, so the two share only a wider field.
- Pink emission patches sit beside blue reflection nebulae and dark dust, so record colour in broadband.
- One imager built a 14 hour 22 minute image from 40 × 10 min luminance and 154 × 3 min colour with a light-pollution filter on the colour camera.
- Best in December; it stays below about 35° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 20′
- Magnitude
- —
- Coordinates
- RA 5h 35.3m, Dec −4° 47′
- Framing, APS-C
- 1210–2020 mm
- Framing, full frame
- 1860–3090 mm
- Best months
- Dec
- Peak altitude
- 35° from 50°N, 50° from 35°N