Observing Nebulosities: The Cygnus Superbubble

Authors

  • Christopher Christopherson University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
  • Nadia Kaltcheva University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17307/wsc.v0i0.151

Keywords:

Cygnus star-forming field, wide-field astrophotography, Interstellar matter

Abstract

The Galactic star-forming complexes are best delineated by the distribution of the ionized interstellar matter which is always associated with active star-formation. Observations of these regions at specific emission lines are helpful in determining the overall distribution of the interstellar gas and dust, and also tracing supernova shock fronts and regions of strong stellar winds. Amateur astrophotography equipment is often useful in obtaining homogeneous coverage of large-scale star-forming fields that in some cases does not yet exist as part of professional all-sky surveys. For this project we observe the Cygnus star-forming complex in the Hydrogen-α, Hydrogen-β and Oxygen-III emission lines. We use a computer-guided modified Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera combined with a wide-angle lens to image a 22° x 17° field, including in this way all prominent star-formation sites in Cygnus.

Author Biography

Christopher Christopherson, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Undergraduate Student

References

Caplan, J., Deharveng, L., 1985. “Absolute H-alpha and H-beta photometry of LMC HII regions.†Astronomy & Astrophysics Supplement Series, 62, 63. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1985A&AS...62...63C

Cox, P., Deharveng, L., Caplan, J. 1987. “Extinction and reddening towards compact Galactic HII regions.†Astronomy & Astrophysics, 171, 277. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1987A&A...171..277C

Gruendl, R. A., Chu, Y. H., Dunne, B. C., & Points, S. D. 2000. “A morphological diagnostic for dynamical evolution of Wolf-Rayet bubbles.†The Astronomical Journal, 120(5), 2670. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/316830

Sharpless, S. 1959. “A Catalogue of H II Regions.†Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 4, 257. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/190049

Uyaniker, B., Fürst, E., Reich, W., Aschenbach, B., Wielebinski, R., 2001, “The Cygnus superbubble revisited.†Astronomy & Astrophysics, 371, 675. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20010387

Cover Image of 2015 Proceedings of the Wisconsin Space Conference: Sonex Personal Jet

Downloads

Published

2016-02-11

How to Cite

Christopherson, C., & Kaltcheva, N. (2016). Observing Nebulosities: The Cygnus Superbubble. Proceedings of the Wisconsin Space Conference. https://doi.org/10.17307/wsc.v0i0.151

Issue

2015: Innovations in Flight

Section

Astronomy and Cosmology

License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.