Astral Imaging at Dogwood Ridge Observatory

Latitude: 37°48'51.0" N"
Longitude:78°23'41.0"W
Scottsville, Virginia 24590

(click on thumbnails to go to that image's page)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Sh2-101

Emission nebula
H II region
Sh2-101 Credit: David St. Louis
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension	20h 00m 29.37s
Declination	35° 19′ 13.9″
Distance	6,000 ly   (1,800 pc)
Apparent magnitude (V)	9.0
Apparent dimensions (V)	16' x 9'
Constellation	Cygnus
Designations	Sharpless 101, Sh2-101, Cygnus Star Cloud
See also: Lists of nebulae

Sharpless 101 (Sh2-101) is a H II region[1] emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. It is sometimes also called the Tulip Nebula because it appears to resemble the outline of a tulip when imaged photographically. It was catalogued by astronomer Stewart Sharpless in his 1959 catalog of nebulae. It lies at a distance of about 6,000 light-years (5.7×1016 km; 3.5×1016 mi) from Earth.

Sh2-101, at least in the field seen from earth, is in close proximity to microquasar Cygnus X-1, site of one of the first suspected black holes. Cygnus X-1 is the brighter of the two stars (lower star) in close vertical proximity just to the right of Sh2-101 in the image presented here.[2]

See also[edit]