The Seagull Nebula, cataloged as IC 2177, is located in the constellation Monoceros, only about two degrees south of the star cluster M50. This nebula is one of several regions of faint nebulosity in this area of the sky. IC 2177 designates the nebulosity that forms the Seagull's wings. The brightest part of the nebulosity forms the Seagull's head, and is separately cataloged as NGC 2327 or Gum-1. NGC 2327 surrounds a hot B-type super giant star (HD 53367) that has a mass twenty times that of our Sun, orbited by a smaller companion with five times the Sun's mass. In this image you can see a dark dust lane bisecting NGC 2327. The nebulae located at the tip of the right wing of the Seagull surrounds a hot B-type star known as HD 53623, and includes Cederblad 90, Sh 2-297, and reflection nebula vdB 94.
Star cluster NGC 2335 is the cluster of stars near the top pf the left wing of the Seagull in this image. NGC 2343 is the cluster of stars below the Seagull, located nearly as far to the left as the Seagull's head. The yellow star in NGC 2343 is a type-G star that is similar to our Sun. The Seagull Nebula it is located about 5900 light-years away.
This is an RGB color composite CCD image taken with an SBIG STL-11000M CCD and a Takahashi Epsilon 180ED telescope at f2.8. The image was taken from my backyard in Scottsdale, Arizona.
IC 2177
Constellation: Monoceros
RA: 07h 05m 18s Dec: -10d 38' 00" (J2000)
January 1 & 2, 2012
Image by Sid Leach
Scottsdale, Arizona
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