M1-88 (aka GUM 85)

SHARPLESS 2 -54 NEBULA COMPLEX (North Area)

SERPENS

 (Image Centred at ra 18h:18m / dec -11:42)

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR A HIGH RESOLUTION VIEW

August  2014 - Camping La Porteña, San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

DATA

Type: HII Region

Apparent magnitude n/a

Apparent diameter: 140 arc minutes (Image FOV 40 x 30 arc minutes)

Distance: 1900 pc or 6200 light years

IMAGE INFORMATION

TELESCOPE: 8" Orion Optics UK Mirror with Televue Paracorr (1150 mm focal length)

CAMERA: QSI 583 WS

FILTERS: Baader LRGB

SKY CONDITIONS: rural skies, foggy night

EXPOSURES: LRGB (30,30,30,30)

OBJECT DESCRIPTION AND IMAGE SESSION

The image shows part of Sharpless 2 54 area aka Gum 84 or RCW 167. It is a HII region ionised by young open star cluster NGC 6604 which is not visible in this image. This nebula complex is a larger object of about 140 arc minutes and extends beyond the FOV provided by the used gear. In the picture we are just showing the north part in a 40 x 30 arc minutes FOV.

The bright object in the center is M1-88. In 1946 Rudolph Minkowski drew the attention on this small bright nebula located at half degree north from NGC 6604. The nebula was also catalogued as Gum 85 in 1955. The object is within a cometary globule in the molecular cloud that rims NGC 6604. There is not much known about M1-88, however from the location and morphology of the cometary cloud, it appears that is a case of second generation star formation triggered by NGC 6604 cluster. (*)

(*) Thanks Sakib Rasool for providing guideline on M1-88