The SEagull
Image Details:
The Seagull Nebula (IC 2177) is an emission region in the Southern skies in the vicinity of Canis Major. It spans approximately 200 light years across and is about 3,700 lightyears from out solar system. Despite the distances involved, this complex covers an apparent size in our sky over 7 times the width of the Full Moon, which is close to the apparent size of the Andromeda Galaxy.
As this nebula is an HII region (primarily) it would have benefitted from additional exposure using Hα and OIII narrowband filters, but I was interested to see how it would appear in broadband, as it is a relatively bright target.
Equipment:
TS Optics 86mm Petzval (459mm Focal Length F/5.4)
ZWO ASI6200MM-P, Antlia LRGB Filters
AstroPhysics Mach2GTO Mount
Autoguiding: Orion 50mm Guidescope + ZWO ASI174MM
Exposures:
Luminance: 112 x 300” (Total: 9h 20m)
Red, Green, Blue: 54, 54, 53x 300” (Total: 13h 25m)
Misc Details:
Capture Software: N.I.N.A. (capture), PHD2 (guiding)
Processing Software: PixInsight
Taken from: Starfront Observatories, TX, Bortle 1
Capture Dates: 11-14, 16-22 March, 2026 (11 total nights)
