Astrophoto: The Seagull Nebula

The Seagull Nebula. Credit: Cesar Cantu from Monterrey, Mexico, and the Chilidog Observatory

This lovely image of the Seagull Nebula was sent to us by Cesar Cantu from the Chilidog Observatory in Monterrey, Mexico. He took the image on January 4, 2011 using a Takahashi FSQ106 Telescope and a Canon 5D camera. The Seagull is near Sirius, the main star in the constellation Canis Major. The region also includes NGC 2327 – a compact, dusty emission region with an embedded massive star that forms the bird’s head and IC 2177 – forming the sweeping arc of the seagull’s wings. The image is dominated by the reddish glow of atomic hydrogen and is about 3,800 light-years away.

Beautiful! See more at Cesar’s website, Astrophoto.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/