ASTRO: SH2-239 and a mystery object

Sharpless 239. This is a mostly reflection/dark nebula with several
Herbig-Haro objects imbedded in it -- the pink spots. It also contains
a mystery I've not been able to solve. Notice the three near star-like
points in a triangle in its center. The POSS 1 and 2 plates show only
two. The one at the lower left is missing! I've tried to find out
about it but so far with no luck. My first thought was a variable star
though i couldn't find any listed for its position. Checking what few
images of this object exist on the net I find all modern ones show the
star-like object but those dating to the time of the POSS plates don't.
I contacted as astronomer in Hawaii that was supposed to be an expert
and was told it was on his narrow band image (great shot with a 2.5
meter scope) but he provided no date. Since it wasn't a "new" object he
wasn't interested and told me that it was worthless to compare narrow
band images to the POSS plates, totally ignoring the fact my shot wasn't
narrow band! I wrote him back asking why it wasn't allowed to compare
wide band red images to red POSS plates and got no reply. Maybe my
email didn't get through his filters. My original email was relayed by
another astronomer who I didn't bother to relay my reply. Thus he will
remain nameless here. It appears that sometime between the POSS plates
and today this object has come out of the murky depths of the nebula for
us to see. Though in doing so it didn't change the nebula much that I
can see. I do see a slight brightening in this area on the POSS 2
plates so it may have just started to appear about that time. Or maybe
it is a variable star everyone since has caught at near maximum. I just
don't know.

Rather than type away as to what a HH (Herbig-Haro) object is I'll just
refer to this link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbig-Haro_object

They aren't necessarily pink (pink is due to ionized hydrogen gas) and
in fact the other two star like objects carry HH designations and the
"new" one may be another that is now showing as blocking dust moved out
of our line of sight. I wanted to see it in IR light but couldn't find
any images. I'd hoped to find some by Spitzer. If anyone knows of any
let me know.

For a color image of this object made from the POSS plates (without my
mystery object) see:
http://galaxymap.org/cgi-bin/details....5&name=S23 9

I found no solid distance estimate for this object but if it is
associated with the same dust cloud as T Tauri - which appears quite
possible then it is a bit under 600 light years from us.

14" LX200R @ f/10, L=6x10', R=2x10' GB=3x10' lost a red to clouds,
STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Rick
--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Rick,

I've attached a blink of your image and a possII (red, (r+b/2), blue)
for comparison. Two things stand out; a shift to the southwest of only
the "pink" data in your image (possible registration problem?) and the
new "not pink" starlike item. Very interesting! Your "out of the murky
depths" hypothesis is quite plausible!

Rick Johnson wrote:
Sharpless 239. This is a mostly reflection/dark nebula with several
Herbig-Haro objects imbedded in it -- the pink spots. It also contains
a mystery I've not been able to solve. Notice the three near star-like
points in a triangle in its center. The POSS 1 and 2 plates show only
two. The one at the lower left is missing!

14" LX200R @ f/10, L=6x10', R=2x10' GB=3x10' lost a red to clouds,
STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Rick

------------------------------------------------------------------------



--
Adriano
34°14'11.7"N

Rick Johnson wrote:
I wanted to see it in IR light but couldn't find
any images. I'd hoped to find some by Spitzer. If anyone knows of any
let me know.

I found an image by Hubble - it's a raw file, Your mystery object just
happens to be in the field of view! (circled). Herbig-Haro 29 is the
large bright object at the bottom. North is to the upper left.

Cheers,
--
Adriano
34°14'11.7"N

Adriano wrote:
Rick Johnson wrote:
I wanted to see it in IR light but couldn't find

any images. I'd hoped to find some by Spitzer. If anyone knows of
any let me know.


I found an image by Hubble - it's a raw file, Your mystery object just
happens to be in the field of view! (circled). Herbig-Haro 29 is the
large bright object at the bottom. North is to the upper left.

Cheers,

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Surprisingly faint. Any date or filter info?

Every time I see a raw Hubble image and those zillion cosmic ray hits it
makes me wonder if we want to be in space for long periods of time. Yes
those are rather weak ones but still... I get one of those every few
weeks not thousands per image.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

How do you separate pink out like that? My Photoshop skills are highly
limited.

I took the color data months after the lum data so both image scale (due
to 30C temp difference) and orientation were different. I may have not
hit the right buttons in Registar and only aligned the image but not
resized it. That could cause what you are seeing. I redid it making
sure I was aligned. My processing skills can't repeat exactly so
there's a slight difference between the two. But I do see this version
as sharper which bad size registration would reduce. See if the pink is
stable now. I don't know how to do it.

I'm wondering about what looks like a satellite trail in the less
colored image. I went through all subs and can't find any trace of it
yet there it is. I stretched them pretty hard yet no sign of it.

Rick


Adriano wrote:

Rick,

I've attached a blink of your image and a possII (red, (r+b/2), blue)
for comparison. Two things stand out; a shift to the southwest of only
the "pink" data in your image (possible registration problem?) and the
new "not pink" starlike item. Very interesting! Your "out of the murky
depths" hypothesis is quite plausible!

Rick Johnson wrote:

Sharpless 239. This is a mostly reflection/dark nebula with several
Herbig-Haro objects imbedded in it -- the pink spots. It also
contains a mystery I've not been able to solve. Notice the three near
star-like points in a triangle in its center. The POSS 1 and 2 plates
show only two. The one at the lower left is missing!

14" LX200R @ f/10, L=6x10', R=2x10' GB=3x10' lost a red to clouds,
STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Rick

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This animation has 3 frames, POSS I, POSS II, and then your recent
image. What is instantly obvious is the motion of those HH objects.
Those pink areas in your image are not misaligned, they're really
moving! Lots of neat stuff going on.

Rick Johnson wrote:
How do you separate pink out like that? My Photoshop skills are highly
limited.

I took the color data months after the lum data so both image scale (due
to 30C temp difference) and orientation were different. I may have not
hit the right buttons in Registar and only aligned the image but not
resized it. That could cause what you are seeing. I redid it making
sure I was aligned. My processing skills can't repeat exactly so
there's a slight difference between the two. But I do see this version
as sharper which bad size registration would reduce. See if the pink is
stable now. I don't know how to do it.

I'm wondering about what looks like a satellite trail in the less
colored image. I went through all subs and can't find any trace of it
yet there it is. I stretched them pretty hard yet no sign of it.


The track is on the POSS II plate, not your image.

--
Adriano
34°14'11.7"N

Adriano wrote:
This animation has 3 frames, POSS I, POSS II, and then your recent
image. What is instantly obvious is the motion of those HH objects.
Those pink areas in your image are not misaligned, they're really
moving! Lots of neat stuff going on.

Rick Johnson wrote:

How do you separate pink out like that? My Photoshop skills are
highly limited.

I took the color data months after the lum data so both image scale
(due to 30C temp difference) and orientation were different. I may
have not hit the right buttons in Registar and only aligned the image
but not resized it. That could cause what you are seeing. I redid it
making sure I was aligned. My processing skills can't repeat exactly
so there's a slight difference between the two. But I do see this
version as sharper which bad size registration would reduce. See if
the pink is stable now. I don't know how to do it.

I'm wondering about what looks like a satellite trail in the less
colored image. I went through all subs and can't find any trace of it
yet there it is. I stretched them pretty hard yet no sign of it.


The track is on the POSS II plate, not your image.


------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK now I understand what you were doing. Neat discovery!

It also shows the object is very faint in the POSS 1 plate, a bit
brighter in 2 and now about as bright as the other two objects. It all
is fitting together now.

Rick



--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Adriano wrote:

Rick Johnson wrote:

Surprisingly faint. Any date or filter info?


March 20, 1999
Ha filter F656N

You can read the paper on it he
http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1538-4...57/005387.html


Thanks

That brightness seems to fit neatly between POSS 2 and my shot as well.
Though being narrow band it is hard to say for sure. Still interesting.

I didn't realize how interesting when I took the image!

Rick


--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Rick Johnson wrote:

Surprisingly faint. Any date or filter info?


March 20, 1999
Ha filter F656N

You can read the paper on it he
http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1538-4...57/005387.html

--
Adriano
34°14'11.7"N

Rick,

that's a neat region of the sky, lots of interesting stuff in your image.

Stefan

"Rick Johnson" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
ster.com...
Sharpless 239. This is a mostly reflection/dark nebula with several
Herbig-Haro objects imbedded in it -- the pink spots. It also contains
a mystery I've not been able to solve. Notice the three near star-like
points in a triangle in its center. The POSS 1 and 2 plates show only
two. The one at the lower left is missing! I've tried to find out
about it but so far with no luck. My first thought was a variable star
though i couldn't find any listed for its position. Checking what few
images of this object exist on the net I find all modern ones show the
star-like object but those dating to the time of the POSS plates don't.
I contacted as astronomer in Hawaii that was supposed to be an expert
and was told it was on his narrow band image (great shot with a 2.5
meter scope) but he provided no date. Since it wasn't a "new" object he
wasn't interested and told me that it was worthless to compare narrow
band images to the POSS plates, totally ignoring the fact my shot wasn't
narrow band! I wrote him back asking why it wasn't allowed to compare
wide band red images to red POSS plates and got no reply. Maybe my
email didn't get through his filters. My original email was relayed by
another astronomer who I didn't bother to relay my reply. Thus he will
remain nameless here. It appears that sometime between the POSS plates
and today this object has come out of the murky depths of the nebula for
us to see. Though in doing so it didn't change the nebula much that I
can see. I do see a slight brightening in this area on the POSS 2
plates so it may have just started to appear about that time. Or maybe
it is a variable star everyone since has caught at near maximum. I just
don't know.

Rather than type away as to what a HH (Herbig-Haro) object is I'll just
refer to this link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbig-Haro_object

They aren't necessarily pink (pink is due to ionized hydrogen gas) and
in fact the other two star like objects carry HH designations and the
"new" one may be another that is now showing as blocking dust moved out
of our line of sight. I wanted to see it in IR light but couldn't find
any images. I'd hoped to find some by Spitzer. If anyone knows of any
let me know.

For a color image of this object made from the POSS plates (without my
mystery object) see:
http://galaxymap.org/cgi-bin/details....5&name=S23 9

I found no solid distance estimate for this object but if it is
associated with the same dust cloud as T Tauri - which appears quite
possible then it is a bit under 600 light years from us.

14" LX200R @ f/10, L=6x10', R=2x10' GB=3x10' lost a red to clouds,
STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Rick
--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".