Serpent’s Nebula
The emission nebula Sh2-54 glows brightly in this image from the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Gathering the fine details of this particular image required almost twenty minutes of observations and three different wavelength filters. Situated within the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent), Sh2-54 forms part of a much wider nebulosity which includes the famous Eagle Nebula. Serpens is a unique constellation, the only one of the official 88 used today that is split into two unconnected parts: Serpens Caput — the Serpent’s Head — and Serpens Cauda — The Serpent’s Tail.
Credit:CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Acknowledgment: Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin
About the Image
| Id: | iotw2104a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | Jan. 27, 2021, 4 p.m. |
| Size: | 1872 x 2043 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Sh2-54 |
| Distance: | 6000 light years |
| Constellation: | Serpens Cauda |
| Category: | Nebulae |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 18 17 56.48 |
| Position (Dec): | -11° 43' 59.42" |
| Field of view: | 12.54 x 13.69 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 179.7° left of vertical |
Colors & filters
| Band | Wave-length | Tele-scope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical G | 475 nm | SMARTS–GSU 0.9-meter Telescope CFCCD |
| Optical I | 780 nm | SMARTS–GSU 0.9-meter Telescope CFCCD |
| Optical H-alpha | 656 nm | SMARTS–GSU 0.9-meter Telescope CFCCD |