Sharpless catalog

The Sharpless catalog is a list of 313 H II regions (emission nebulae) intended to be comprehensive north of declination −27°. (It does include some nebulae south of that declination as well.) The first edition was published in 1953 with 142 objects (Sh1), and the second and final version was published by US astronomer Stewart Sharpless in 1959 with 312 objects. Sharpless also includes some planetary nebulae and supernova remnants, in addition to H II regions.[1]

Sharpless catalog
Survey typeastronomical catalog 
TargetH II region 
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In 1953 Stewart Sharpless joined the staff of the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station,[2] where he surveyed and cataloged H II regions of the Milky Way using the images from the Palomar Sky Survey. From this work Sharpless published his catalog of H II regions in two editions: the first in 1953, with 142 nebula;[3] and the second and final edition in 1959, with 312 nebulae.[2][4]

Sharpless coordinates are based on the star catalogs Bonner Durchmusterung (BD) and Cordoba Durchmusterung (CD), but the second release was adjusted to the 1900 epoch.[1]

In the second release, some coordinates for southern hemisphere regions have an uncertainty over 1 minute of arc.[1] This can make them difficult to find, so a revised catalog called BFS (Blitz, Fich and Stark) was released[1] with 65 new regions and about 20 removals.[1] Most of the removed items were the aforementioned nebula or remnants.[1]

The 312 items in Sharpless sometimes overlap with the 110 Messier objects (M), 7,840 objects in the New General Catalogue (NGC), the Caldwell catalogue (itself a "best of" from other catalogues, with 109 items), and the RCW catalog. Contemporary catalogs were Gum and RCW, but they mainly covered the southern hemisphere.

Examples

Examples of second Sharpless (1958 version) catalog; click on image for image credit, most of which are either various amateur astronomers, the ESO, ESA, or NASA

Sh2 No.A common nameImagesNames and designations
6NGC 6302Sh2-6, NGC 6302, Bug Nebula,

PK 349+01 1, Butterfly Nebula, RCW 124, Gum 60, Caldwell 69

8NGC 6334ESO 392-EN 009, Sharpless 8, RCW 127, Gum 64, NGC 6334
11NGC 6357Sh2-11, NGC 6357, RCW 131, Gum 66, War and Peace Nebula
25Lagoon NebulaSh2 25, RCW 146, Gum 72, Messier 8
29Sharpless 29Sh2 29
30Trifid NebulaSh2 30, M20, NGC 6514, RCW 147, Gum 76
45Omega NebulaOmega Nebula, M17, NGC 6618, Swan Nebula, Sharpless 45, RCW 160, Gum 81
49Eagle NebulaSh2 49, Messier 16, NGC 6611, RCW 165, Gum 83
64W 40Sh2 64, RCW 174
101Tulip NebulaSharpless 101
105Crescent NebulaSh2 105, NGC 6888, Sharpless 105, Caldwell 27
106Sh2-106Sh2-106, Celestial Snow Angel
117North America NebulaNGC 7000, Caldwell 20
125Cocoon NebulaIC 5146, Caldwell 19
140Sh2-140 Sh2-140
155Cave NebulaSh2-155, Caldwell 9
162NGC 7635Sh2-162, NGC 7635, Bubble nebula
184NGC 281NGC 281, IC 11
191Maffei 1Sh2-191, Maffei 1, PGC 9892
197Maffei 2Sh2-197, Maffei 2, UGCA 39,[5]PGC 10217,[5]
199Soul NebulaSh2-199, LBN 667, Soul Nebula, IC 1848 (cluster only)
220California NebulaNGC 1499, Sharpless 220
229IC 405Flaming Star Nebula, Caldwell 31, IC 405, Sh2-229
237NGC 1931Sharpless 237
238NGC 1555NGC 1555, Hind's Nebula, Sharpless 238
244Crab NebulaMessier 1, NGC 1952,
248IC 443IC 443, Sh2-248, Jellyfish Nebula
275Rosette NebulaSh2-275, CTB 21
279Sh2-279
276Barnard's LoopSh2-276, Barnard's Loop
277Flame NebulaSh2-271, NGC 2024
281Orion NebulaM42, NGC 1976, LBN 974
297Sh2-297Ced 90, LBN 1039
298NGC 2359Thor's Helmet, Gum 4, Sharpless 298, NGC 2359
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See also
  • Gum Catalog
  • RCW Catalog
  • List of Star-Forming Regions in the Local Group

References
  1. Galaxy Map – The Gum, RCW, Sharpless and BFS catalogs
  2. Steven, Dick (2002). Sky and Ocean Joined: The U.S. Naval Observatory, 1830–2000. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81599-4.
  3. Stewart Sharpless, A Catalogue of Emission Nebulae Near the Galactic Plane, Astrophysical Journal, vol. 118, p.362, 1953
  4. Stewart Sharpless, A Catalogue of H II Regions, Astrophysical Journal Supplement, vol. 4, p.257, 1959
  5. "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for Maffei 2. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
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