1 Attachment(s)
Object of the Week July 01, 2012 - Wolf-Rayet Shell around WR 134/135
WR 134/135
Wolf-Rayet Shell
Cygnus
RA 20 10 14
DEC +36 10 35 (position of WR 134)
I noticed this object first a few years ago on widefield narrowband images by JP Metsävainio. It is visible in the right part of this mosaic as a brilliant blue OIII crescent (in the Hubble palette version). The bubble is roughly half ways between the Tulip nebula Sharpless 101 and the Crescent nebula.
http://astroanarchy.blogspot.com/200...g-project.html
With my 22", this WR shell is not visible unfiltered. As most WR bubbles, it responds extremely well to the OIII filter. With filter, it appears as a ghostly crescent that is roughly 15' long and opened towards E. The appearance is similar to that of Sharpless 308, which is, however, considerably larger. This is the summer object I often show to people who would like to see something more exotic than just the Veil or the Ring Nebula :-)
A highly enhanced DSS image of the area. WR 134 is the middle star in the central group of three stars.
Attachment 253
While WR 134 is roughly in the center of the bubble, Steve Gottlieb digged out a paper, where WR 134 being the source of the shell was questioned and instead WR 135 was suggested to be the true central star.
Very recently, Don Goldman imaged the nebula. His APOD image is here http://www.astrodonimaging.com/galle....cfm?imgID=253 . To my knowledge, this is the only image dedicated to this object.
"GIVE IT A GO AND LET US KNOW"
GOOD LUCK AND GREAT VIEWING!
An observation from the Golden State Star Party 2012
When Paul Alsing and Debbie Searle said they were heading over to visit with Jimi Lowrey and Steve Gottlieb I didn't a thing about it. After all, that meant Paul's 25 f/5 mine.... all mine... ;) It was just sitting there waiting for a dancing partner. I was not aware they would get a view of this object and I'd be left a brides maid. Paul and Debbie came back talking about it as did Alan and about everyone but I guess the porta-john servicing guy. :(
Hating to be left out of a good thing, I made sure to ask Jimi about this object the next afternoon.
"Hey I am going over to Steve and see if he'll show me this tonight...", I said
"What?! Hell no... no do overs! We don't back up! You wanna see this? Find it! It's on DeepskyForum. Log your butt in and read...", said Jimi
"Umm... well maybe I'll just go over to Steve and ask for a finder chart..."
"Finder chart??? Hell no!! We burnt the m..... f..... You get on DSF and get the coordinates! Then find the @%@$ thing for yourself!"
You'll just have to imagine that Floridian drawl and the big smile plastered on his face.... I slipped away and found my iPad.... logged on to the DSF... :P
Later that night with Charlie Wicks plotting the field of view on his filtered iPad, and with the coordinates entered into the Argo on Paul's 25 f/5 we went to town... Well not really... That line of 4 stars makes finding this object about the doddle. Those 4 stars in a jagged line are just so easy to pick out. Indeed once I ID'ed the FOV in the Telrad field on the 25, pointing Deb's 20 f/5 at the same place was no issue whatsoever, I just push to'd to the field using the telrad and a tiny spiral search for those 4 stars in the jagged line found it PDQ.
That major crecent area is easy! And for the time of night and date (20-Jul about 23:00PDT), placing the crescent outside the FOV seemed to bring in a tad of fainter nebulousity. I believe the 25 f/5 was using a 13mm Ethos, and the 20 inch f/5 a 17mm Nagler. Both show the main bright crescent area easily when filtered. Bad on me I did not trying Eric Shrader's 14.5. Conditions Friday night were, IIRC not super either. Hit and miss hazy with fair seeing. Not bad mind you. Just not as good as GSSP can be. I'd GUESS maybe a 6 - 6.5LM. Certain parts of the sky were better than others. (Don't quote me on the night... GSSP went so fast and like Paul, I wrote nothing down.)
Later on Jimi came by and to tell me, "See! You don't need nobody! Just go look for yourself!" :P
Well... I guess you just had to have been there... :D ;)