Sh2-301, or Gum 5, is an emission nebula in the constellation of Canis Major. At a declination of -18 this little gem sits at the edge of my southerly reach. It’s unusual to find an Hii target this far south, although there are a few.
This nebula is rich in Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Sulfur emissions. It is often overlooked because it’s close to Thor’s Helmet and the Vela super nova remnant. It has a lot of structure as well. There are many small columns of dust and gas. You can also see wispy blue areas of oxygen and a nice Bok globule in the center.
Additionally there are 4 galaxies and 2 LBN targets in the image. Astrobin link for acquisition details and annotated image.
I happened upon this target after watching Gary Imm on the Astro Imaging Channel SAIC you tube channel. He went through a very interesting presentation on the Sharpless catalog and his approach to imaging it. Following that, I was looking through his images and this target caught my eye.
Session automation and image acquisition by APT. 132 subframes taken with an RC8 telescope at 1625mm fl and an ASI071MC Pro camera cooled to 15f. These ride atop a Skywatcher Eq6r Pro Equatorial mount. Subframe calibration, alignment, integration, and processing in PixInsight.
