Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cygnus (Cyg)  ·  Contains:  B144  ·  Sh2-101
Sh2-101 Tulip Nebula - Cygnus X-1 bow shockwave - SHO, Jerry Macon
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Sh2-101 Tulip Nebula - Cygnus X-1 bow shockwave - SHO

Sh2-101 Tulip Nebula - Cygnus X-1 bow shockwave - SHO, Jerry Macon
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Sh2-101 Tulip Nebula - Cygnus X-1 bow shockwave - SHO

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Description

Images from the following two scopes (piggybacked) contributed to this image:

AG12+ASI1600MM at .70 asec/pix (SII,Ha,OIII)

TV127is+ASI183MM at .75 asec/pix. (OIII)

They were all registered to the best Ha image taken on the AG12.

I was inspired to attempt this target by the excellent example from Barry Wilson. The blue arc to the right of the stunning Tulip Nebula's petals is the shock wave of Cygnus X-1, the strongest X-ray source visible from Earth, driven by powerful jets from a black hole accretion disk.

Narrative from Starship Asterisk:

Framing a bright emission region, this telescopic view looks out along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the nebula rich constellation Cygnus the Swan. Popularly called the Tulip Nebula, the reddish glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust is also found in the 1959 catalog by astronomer Stewart Sharpless as Sh2-101. About 8,000 light-years distant and 70 light-years across the complex and beautiful nebula blossoms at the center of this composite image. Ultraviolet radiation from young energetic stars at the edge of the Cygnus OB3 association, including O star HDE 227018, ionizes the atoms and powers the emission from the Tulip Nebula. HDE 227018 is the bright star near the center of the nebula. Also framed in the field of view is microquasar Cygnus X-1, one of the strongest X-ray sources in planet Earth's sky. Driven by powerful jets from a black hole accretion disk, its fainter visible curved shock front lies above and right, just beyond the cosmic Tulip's petals.

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Sh2-101 Tulip Nebula - Cygnus X-1 bow shockwave - SHO, Jerry Macon

In these collections

Sharpless 2 Objects