SHAPLEY 3

PLANETARY NEBULA IN ARA (THE ALTAR)

(Image centered at: ra 18 h:07 m / dec - 51º 01')

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR A HIGH RESOLUTION VIEW

September - 2024, Home Backyard in Martinez, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

TYPE: PLANETARY NEBULA

APPARENT DIAMETER: 35 arc seconds 

APPARENT MAGNITUDE (V): 11.9

DISTANCE: not found

IMAGE INFORMATION

INSTRUMENT: 6" ORION OPTICS UK (Ultra Grade Optics) w/Sky Watcher Coma Corrector (0.9x) working at at f4.5

CAMERA: QHY 183 MONO

MOUNT: VIXEN GDPX, OAG with Starlight Xpress Lodestar

FILTERS: BAADER LRGB Set ANTLIA 0iii & HA

SKY CONDITIONS: urban skies - Bortle 8

EXPOSURES: LHARGB (45,60,45,45,45)

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

Shapley 3 is one of the three planetary nebula in the Shapley catalogue. Contrary to Shapley 1, this planetary has a smaller angular size, just 35 arc seconds a bit more if we consider the outer Ha halo.

Harlow Shapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) was an American scientist, head of the Harvard College Observatory. He realized that the Milky Way Galaxy was far larger than previously believed, and that the Sun's place in the galaxy was in a nondescript location. This discovery supports the Copernican principle, according to which the Earth is not at the center of our Solar System, our galaxy, nor our Universe.