Sh2-101

Sh2-101
Emission nebula
H II region
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension 20h 00m 29.37s
Declination 35° 19 13.9
Distance 6,000 ly   (1,800 pc)
Apparent magnitude (V) 9.0
Apparent dimensions (V) 16' x 9'
Constellation Cygnus
Designations Sharpless 101, Sh2-101, Cygnus Star Cloud

Sharpless 101 (Sh2-101) is a H II region[1] emission nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. It is sometimes also called the Tulip Nebula because it appears to resemble the outline of a tulip when imaged photographically. It was catalogued by astronomer Stewart Sharpless in his 1959 catalog of nebulae. It lies at a distance of about 6,000 light-years (5.7×1016 km; 3.5×1016 mi) from Earth.

Sh2-101, at least in the field seen from earth, is in close proximity to microquasar Cygnus X-1, site of one of the first suspected black holes. Cygnus X-1 is the brighter of the two stars (lower star) in close vertical proximity just to the right of Sh2-101 in the image presented here.[2]

See also

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External links

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