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Sh2-101 – Tulip Nebula

Sh2-101, known as the Tulip Nebula, is an emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. It has an apparent angular size of 16 × 9 arcminutes, equivalent to a physical diameter of approximately 11 light-years, and lies about 2,300 light-years from the Solar System. To the right of the nebula, within the same apparent field but physically unrelated to Sh2-101, lies Cygnus X-1. This binary system consists of the blue supergiant HDE 226868, catalogued as HIP 98298, and a stellar-mass black hole of approximately 21 solar masses. Cygnus X-1 was detected as an X-ray source in 1964 and became the first object widely identified as containing a black hole.

General information

Constellation
Cygnus
Category
Nebulae
Date
4 August 2024

Capture

Total time
HOO: 3h 12min; SHO: 4h 36min
Subframes
Session on 03/08/2024: 360s (Ha: 7x, OIII: 5x, SII: 5x) bin1; session on 04/08/2024: 360s (Ha: 10x, OIII: 10x, SII: 9x) bin1
Gain / Offset
125 / 30
Calibration
30 dark frames, 30 flat frames and 30 dark-flat frames, without bias frames

Equipment

Telescope
TS102 f/5.6
Camera
ZWO ASI294MM at -10 °C
Filters
Ha, OIII and SII Astronomik
Mount
Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro with belt drive
Guiding
Guide scope 60 mm f/4 + ASI224MC
Focuser
Not specified
Filter wheel
Not specified

Processing and environment

Processing
Stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.8.9-3 Ripley
Acquisition
NINA
Location
l'Ampolla
Sky
Bortle 4

Additional versions

SHO compositionVersion of Sh2-101 processed as an SHO composition, combining SII, Ha and OIII emissions.
Identified objectsIdentification of Sh2-101, Cygnus X-1 and the catalogued stars within the photographed field.