Sharpless
(H alpha) Areas in Cassiopeia To Cygnus
June 2014 - October 2014
September 2015 - Nov 2015
May 2016 - August 2016
The region between Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cygnus sits near most
northern section of the Milky Way. This region is filled with
bright areas of Hydrogen that are cataloged in the Sharpless Catalog.
I started this just as a single frame of M52 and the nearby Bubble
Nebula (NGC 7635, SH2-162). My original intent was to shoot this
area in multiple filters (since the Bubble does have Oxygen and
Sulfur). When I saw what I was getting I decided to change the
goal to instead capturing the larger extent of nearby Sharpless
objects. Once I completed the first mosaic in 2014 I expanded the
project to include the entire stretch of sky.
The Astrodon
3 nm H Alpha filters I use give me outstanding contrast.
Consequently even the smaller Sharpless objects stand out really
well.
Overview of Current State
The
entire project
covers a huge part of the sky. Because of this I decided to break
the project into sections. The figure on the right will
provide some reference. Follow the links in the titles to see the
portions of the project.
The original 2014 work was in Cassiopeia and is shown in Yellow.
This consists of the area from about M 52 southwest for about 9
degrees.
Starting in 2015 I worked on a larger area marked
in Green to expand
the
current mosaic. I hope to complete this section in Fall of 2016.
Northern
Cygnus
The tan areas mark the approximate boundary of the 2016 Northern Cygnus
Mosaic. The mosaic is a rough retangle with an added section to
include Sadar and SH 108.
From 2012 to 2015 I imaged several projects in this area including NGC
7000 (North American), SH 199,
and SH 108
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Future Project Years
The 2014 work only covered a portion of the potential Sharpless
regions
in Cassiopeia. In 2015 I launched on the second phase of the
project shown in yellow below. This will not complete until Fall
2016 (hopefully). The tan sections link to the Cygnus mosaic.
Because I worked on 3 color images of NGC 7000, SH119, and SH 171, I started late in 2015. Thus
I was not able to complete the yellow slice in 2015 and the work has
extended to 2016.
Here is an idea of the
size of the undertaking. For clarity I have not filled in all of
the squares of the mosaic. Instead only the east side and the SW
corner are shown. This will catch most of the Sharpless Objects
in this band. Some of the outliers may be the subject of
individual projects.
Here is a PDF that shows the full extent of the work. The 2016
Cygnus work included as corners A27, A29, A41, and A38 with A37 as
a
bonus. So roughly rectangular with a extension on the top.
Copyrights For Photos
(c) 2014-2016 Robert J Hawley Some Rights Reserved.
Except as noted,all work on this site by Robert J. Hawley is licensed
under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
This permits the non commercial use of the material on this site,
either in whole or in part, in other works provided that I am credited
for the work.