Located between the Monoceros and Canis Major constellations, is the emission and reflection nebulae complex of the so-called Seagull Nebula. From my position, this bird flies at a maximum 28^o low (-11 Dec) on the southern horizon and, furthermore, spends much of its time behind houses, trees, and tall hedges, thus providing just two short windows for imaging; combined with this winter’s terrible weather it made for a difficult but ultimately rewarding target.    

Popularly known as the Seagull Nebula, the bird consists of a number of fabulous objects spanning some 200 light-years in their entirety: the Seagull’s head (SH2-292) and wings (IC 2177), the large open star cluster along the leading edge of the left wing (NGC 2335) and a smaller cluster on the edge of the right wing (NGC 2327), the nebula at the tip of the right wing (Sh2-297), as well as many other named features (Sharpless and LBN) that are highlighted in the following plate solved image.

Despite the difficulties posed by the low position of the object in the night sky, each of the Ha, OIII and SII wavelengths are strong, making for good data acquisition and a very pleasing final image.

For more image information please refer to me website here: https://watchthisspaceman.com/2024/03/04/avian-astronomy-seagull-nebula/