Barnard’s Loop (Sharpless 276)
Emission Nebula Sharpless 276
(Sh2-276,
= H V.35 ?),
a diffuse nebula or SNR
in Orion
Barnard’s Loop
Right Ascension | 5 : 15 — 6 : 00 (h:m) |
---|---|
Declination | -8 — +3 (deg:m) |
Distance | 1.6 (kly) |
Visual Brightness | ? (mag) |
Apparent Dimension | > 600 (arc min) |
Barnard’s loop is a remarkable nebula enveloping a great part of the huge
Orion cloud, or complex, it seems
to be associated with. It was perhaps discovered by William Herschel, and
finally found again by E.E. Barnard.
While difficult to be observed visually, it can be well photographed on long
exposures.
It is speculated that this nebula may be a supernova remnant.
Our image shows faint Barnard’s Loop on a star trail exposure of constellation
Orion obtained by Alexander Jäger of the
Interessengemeinschaft Astronomie (Astronomy Interest Group) at the
University of Constance.
Other parts of the Orion cloud, such as
the Orion Nebula
Horsehead Nebula region can also be easily identified
in this image, as well as Orion’s major stars.
The extended image shows also the
Alexander took this image with a 50 mm f/1.4 photo lens stopped to f/2,
exposed 2 minutes on Kodak Ektachrome Panther P1600X film from the
Schwäbische Alb, South Germany.
Last Modification: 29 Mar 1998, 13:30 MET