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vdB 127, Sh2-84 and M71, Gary Imm
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vdB 127, Sh2-84 and M71

vdB 127, Sh2-84 and M71, Gary Imm
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vdB 127, Sh2-84 and M71

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This object, vdB 127, is located in the constellation of Sagitta at a declination of +19 degrees.

A fact that is not universally known is that, while Dr. van den Bergh's vdB catalogue is a catalogue of NEBULAE, the objects in the catalogue (designated vdB 1 through vdB 159) are actually STARS.  Many times this difference is not important, where the nebulae is superimposed over the star.  These are straightforward vdB objects categorized as Type I, where the source star is embedded in nebulosity.

Type II objects, on the other hand, are defined as nebulae where the source star is located outside of the illuminated nebulosity.  In some cases, a long ways outside.  A good example of this is the Witch Head Nebula (IC 2118 - vdB 36), which is illuminated by the bright star Rigel which is 2.5 degrees to the east.  In these cases, it can be confusing as to which object is actually the vdB nebulosity.

As seen in the Astrobin annotation, vdB 127 is identified to be the bright orange star, which is the bright 3.8 magnitude orange source star HD 187076 (also known as delta Sagitta). However, I see no nebulosity in or immediately around this star.   I believe that Dr. van der Bergh in this case identified the small reddish-blue nebulosity/emission structure to the lower left of the bright star to be the nebulosity of vdB 127.  This nebulosity is also known as Sh2-84.   Most images that I have seen of vdB 127 show only the bright orange star and not the associated nebulosity.

I believe that the nebulosity of vdB 127 is Sh2-84, and not the region immediately around the bright orange star, for three reasons:
1. The paper identifies vdB 127 as a Type II object, where the source star is located outside of the nebulosity. 
2. The paper says that this nebula is 30 arc-minutes wide.  While Sh2-84 is only 10 arc-minutes wide, there is some fainter nebulosity above the brighter nebulosity which makes the overall nebulosity to be 30 arc-minutes wide.
3. Most importantly, a footnote in the paper described vdB 127 to be similar in structure to vdB 5.  vdB 5 is better known as IC 59 and IC 63, which look very similar to Sh2-84. 

Sh2-84 is not associated with the bright orange star as Dr. van den Bergh believed.  Sh2-84 is 16000 light years away while the bright orange star is only 550 light years away.  

Sidney van den Bergh published his vdB catalog of reflection nebulae in 1966. It was later expanded by one for a total of 159. The collection encompassed all reflection nebulosity visible on the Palomar Sky Survey north of -33 degrees latitude. My complete Astrobin vdB Collection is here.

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